Life in Lasne

Cat Woman

Carte Blanche: Herman

Dorien is our black cat. She was born sometime in 1987, nobody remembers exactly when, but we know where: Belgium, at my sister’s house. At the time we were living in The Netherlands in Den Haag. She followed us to Switzerland for 11 years and then back to Belgium last year. She used to warn us about imminent danger around the houses we used to live (squirrels, a lonely fox, a dog or another cat). These days we need to protect her, because she is growing older by the day.

She does not go far from the house, unless we are walking around the garden and she can take a stroll with us. At certain points in the house we strategically put some chairs , so she can still reach the windowsill when jumping to look outside of the house.
We notice that she is sleeping longer and only wakes up to ask for food or to complain about it. She eats more than she used to, but does not gain weight. Despite of her rather passive life lately, she remains a warm and welcome presence in the house we bought in Lasne.

She is unhappy when we are not around in her territory. Yes, after eighteen year, she has accepted to share her territory with us and sees us as an integral part of it. She only wants to go on vacation at my sister’s in Ronse, because she likes to be spoiled by her. It does look like the noise free environment of Lasne has made her a bit more silent, but the clean nature around her has made her more resilient to live longer. She may make it to twenty-five, who will tell.

Cats have learned how to co-exist with people in a lot of countries around the world, despite of the fact that they are not really the easiest animals to get along with.

We need to make sure that every politician gets one, becomes more tolerant, people and nature friendly. After all, this world is just a big territory.

posted by Unknown @ 7:42 PM