Clarence

Clarence was a stray who began to hang around in the winter of '14-'15. We eventually caught him, took him to the vet to be neutered, and then he decided to just live at our place. The vet estimated him to be about two years old at the time, which would make him about 13 years old now.

He's definitely not as ambitious as he once was. He spends a great deal of time just lounging around. He likes to be outside if the weather is nice, and he likes it best if one of us is outside, too, so he can supervise whatever we are doing. This photo seems to have caught him arranging himself underneath a blueberry bush in the garden.

In the above photo, he was in one of his mischievous moods, hunkered down low and swatting at little nothings in the weeds.

This is how Clarence likes to spend much of the day, after a long night. I like to leave my bed open to air for a while before I make it, but then a certain cat takes over, and I can't make the bed unless I disturb him.

For many years we put our cats into a shed at night to keep them safe from wildlife. They had food, water, places to sleep, and a litter box, so were quite comfortable. A few years ago, when we had three cats, Clarence was always getting bullied by the other two. So we started letting him stay in the house at night.

We eventually gave away the worst bully to another family who wanted a garage cat to catch mice. But Clarence didn't want to go into the shed any more. Over a year ago we had to put down the other cat, due to age and health issues. Now Clarence can have the shed all to himself, but he still doesn't want to go out there.

Unfortunately, he makes a pest of himself if he stays in the house, yowling in the hallway when he decides it's time to go back outside. We try to catch him to put him in the shed, but he has become very wary of us if we approach him in the evening. He hides underneath a bed, or behind the sofa so we can't catch him. So he ends up staying outside half the night, due to his lack of cooperation. It worries me, but I think he actually spends most of the time on the deck or on the stairs surveying his domain.

We are getting up in years, and have decided when Clarence dies we won't get another cat. They are one more thing to take care of, and one more thing to trip over. But every time somebody shows me a picture of a cute kitten, I want another one. We'll see.