Cat's Journey - by Mark Birnbaum
Antiquing in and around Round Top, Texas is a long-standing family tradition. This cat was a find from the fall 2010 show, purchased near the road in Warrenton. Signed “L. Linte 1948.”
Gifted filmmaker and documentarian, Mark Birnbaum, attended my storytelling salon in 2011, having volunteered to tell me more about “cat.”
on a related note, a feral cat had a litter in my garage several years prior. mark & his wife adopted two of the kittens – later named besito & manuela (pictured right). “cat’s” story was inspired by their journey.
"Hungry
Hungry
Hungry
WHAT?! What?
Oh. Under the house.
Mom, my sisters and my brother that I love. He’s all white.
I’m… not.
Even in winter it’s warm here, with mom and my white brother.
The house person leaves food.
We hunt, and we catch mice, sometimes a rat.
And we eat the house person’s food she leaves for us.
She brought us in the house! Real warm. No mice, maybe one.
Good food. No hunting for food, water.
NO! NO! NO NO NO NO NO!!!
Where’s mom?!! Me and brother, but
WHERE’S MOM??!!
In a cage, moving fast, lots of noises, and these two persons.
ANOTHER HOUSE! Big house. Scary. We hide. But there’s food all the time.
Later, we sleep with the persons, IN A BIG SOFT WARM THING.
It’s warm, sleeping with them.
We have a door.
We play out back.
We hunt snakes, mice, maybe a rat.
There are dogs out there. We hear them.
We don’t hide anymore.
We like the new persons.
We think about mom sometimes.
And the person who took us into the house."
Hungry
Hungry
WHAT?! What?
Oh. Under the house.
Mom, my sisters and my brother that I love. He’s all white.
I’m… not.
Even in winter it’s warm here, with mom and my white brother.
The house person leaves food.
We hunt, and we catch mice, sometimes a rat.
And we eat the house person’s food she leaves for us.
She brought us in the house! Real warm. No mice, maybe one.
Good food. No hunting for food, water.
NO! NO! NO NO NO NO NO!!!
Where’s mom?!! Me and brother, but
WHERE’S MOM??!!
In a cage, moving fast, lots of noises, and these two persons.
ANOTHER HOUSE! Big house. Scary. We hide. But there’s food all the time.
Later, we sleep with the persons, IN A BIG SOFT WARM THING.
It’s warm, sleeping with them.
We have a door.
We play out back.
We hunt snakes, mice, maybe a rat.
There are dogs out there. We hear them.
We don’t hide anymore.
We like the new persons.
We think about mom sometimes.
And the person who took us into the house."