Celebrating our two year wedding anniversary at Vespaio, Ryan and I felt like we had been transported to Rome.
A basket of ciabatta and wheat walnut bread came with a chickpea dip drizzled with olive oil. Our mussels arrived on a steaming plate of roasted tomatoes and garlic. Ryan carefully cut open one of his stuffed king crab raviolis. I pulled away my margherita pizza to see how far the homemade mozzarella would stretch.
With bottles of vintage wine surrounding us, we took bite after bite, sip after sip, and we felt like this was certainly the way to celebrate our anniversary.
But the universe had a surprise in store. After paying our bill and leaving a tip (which alone was more than what we usually spent on an evening out), we went down to the lake.
We walked, laughed and thought about all the people that celebrated with us on our wedding day.
A little gray cat with a white patch on her nose came ambling up to the picnic table we sat on. She began to meow and wrap her body around my bare legs. What a beautiful kitty! I said, even though I inwardly cringed each time she drew near (fleas and other diseases popping up in my imagination).
It was evident that she was hungry, thirsty and in need of shelter. Austin is populated by hundreds of ferals cats, but this spotted gray feline was not one of them.
As we hatched a plan to take her home for the evening, she pounced on a cricket that had flown under the picnic pavilion.
There is something so charming about seeing a house cat pounce.
We deemed her Cricket, and she now wears a red collar with a purple name tag deeming her ours.
As first time pet owners, Ryan and I are learning all the cost and care that goes into taking care of kitty. We have an even sharper learning curve because in a few weeks...our Cricket is having kittens.
Yes...this is what can happen when you adopt a stray cat.
But the mornings are sweet with Cricket and I stretched out on our living room floor. As the sun illuminates our bookshelves and the dust that's collected underneath our couch, Cricket and I play with a little stuffed mouse, and I smile as I feel her purr. In the course of two weeks, she's moved from screened-in porch to our bed. Needless to say, Ryan and I are suckers for cute animals.
But what makes Cricket even more special is the tie that it gives me to my older sister, Pam. When Pam turned 16, my parents bought her a cat. Cassie was a beautiful long hair calico, similar to my Cricket now. We found Cricket one week before my sister's funeral, and I can't help but think that this creature was a gift to help me get through what has been an unbearably hard time.
So friends and family, meet Cricket...and if you want a kitten come July, let me know.
Always,
Monet
Anecdotes and Apple Cores