The bride of 38 years has a bedroom and the damned thing is open to cats 24/7. When the bed is unmade little Shiloh makes forts and caves with the covers and pillows and gets buried. When made up like most days with a furry comforter thrown upon it the tomcat leaps upon it and goes nuts with joy while crashing for a sleep.

Tonight the momcat Mister Mittens is laid out upon the bed and just loves going "Sphinx" upon it. I'm thinking she slept in some rough places as a kitten while being abused by street cats and becoming pregnant. And hustling for food while dodging cars and dogs and people. Yeah, she's still a bit "wild" but we are so happy that this girl is spayed and healthy and young and not altogether a crazy female feline.

Jeez, it was my son John who first befriended her as a kitten. He was the fellow that gave her the first "human touch". And she would mew and come out of a hiding place in my yard to come to him and catch a petting and a can of Bumblebee tuna. Last July while knocked up and in labor as a young girl barely out of kittenhood she knew where to cry and scratch at a door and dig a birthing nest.

She's two now. She's our's. We love her.

This is the Momcat last year on a visit to my yard as a feral kitten. She's either newly pregnant or just about ready to be but damn, she was and still is a pretty girl. My wife and I are just happy that she is off the street and has a chance to live a good long life with the humans that love her along with two of the kittens that she gave birth to.

Christ almighty! Not every old Marine rifleman wants to keep shooting at living things. Marines in my day took a beating sometimes so as to not hurt people that meant us no harm.

Physically, Shiloh is a duplicate of her Mom except she has more white in her coat.