Alice is spending the night in a crate in Maria’s Studio, where she will spend most, if not all, of the weekend. Almost everything I thought about Alice – she is a beautiful, smart, affectionate and charismatic cat – turned to be wrong. Lisa Dingle, who found her, has found a home for her in her family. I thought Maria would want to keep her – and I guess a part of me wanted to keep her – but I was wrong.

Maria said we have enough animals, and she was also concerned that a white cat like Alice would be an easy target for hawks, owls, foxes and coyotes, who patrol the woods here and can easily spot a white animal. Alice is a charmer, and it was nothing short of miraculous the way she popped out of the bushes and announced herself as Red and the sheep thundered all around here. The cat has class and style.

I thought Maria would want her for sure, but she’s right, we do have enough animals, and Lisa has a great home in mind for her. I was determined not to fall into the gender stereotype – the woman wants the animal, the man grumps that we have enough animals.  I was on the way to tell Maria we ought to keep Alice when the door opened and Maria came in and said she was going home with Lisa. So that’s what will happen. Part of the charm and mystery of loving animals is that almost everything about them – including our own responses to them – is utterly unpredictable.