“Remoted” Workday 193 / Day 294 (Monday)

Today is one of those dates where Facebook Memories offer up a fun nugget.

Merriwether of Tennessee, who
pushed Moose to find his voice.

The earliest “On this day” memory from today's date concerns Moose and a cat. When Moose and I joined forces, there was a gray neighborhood stray cat that stayed at my house when he felt like it. I named him Merriwether, and, despite my best efforts to make him my housebound companion, he resisted my offers of long-term commitment. He is but one of many  males who somehow managed to resist my charms. During the stretch of his independent, playboy comings and goings, my house was twice infested with fleas, which was an unpleasant situation I hope to avoid forevermore.

One day, I arrived home to an amusing sight. Moose was scrunched back into the corner of the couch, trapped by Merriwether, who sat in front of him. Moose and I locked eyes, and it seemed like he was sending me a distress signal. Merriwether seemed amused by the situation.

On this date in 2010, when Moose had been with me for about three weeks, silent as a monk, my post on Facebook reads, “is wondering what button the cat pushed to make the dog bark after weeks of silence.” It was Merriwether who “inspired” Moose to find his voice, and he has not stopped exercising his vocal chords since.

Tennessee Moose, in our early days.

Merriwether continued to leave and return at whim, with longer absences between. He would show up with battle scars, eat, and leave. Once, after an absence of months, while walking Moose in the neighborhood, we came upon Merriwether sitting on a tree stump in an empty lot, looking a bit rough. He glared at me then turned his head away. For real, there were fiery laser beams shooting from his eyes. And that was the end of that. I never saw him again. 

While looking for a photo of Merriwether, which took 100 times longer than it should have, it was finally found in a blog post from January 4, 2010. For an early, on-the-scene report of Moose and Merriwether, check out “Sibling Rivalry.”