A herd of cats

It makes sense that in Orlando where there are Mickey Mouses everywhere you look, you would also expect there to be a plethora of cats. On my last run on the morning we left Orlando to go visit Grandma, I turned a corner and came upon a gaggle of kitties, a whole pride of tomcats, a herd of cats.

I don't know if there is a word that is accepted by word connoisseurs to describe a large gathering of cats. I had not known they gathered. I thought cats were standoffish creatures, both with humans and with their own kind.

Yet here they were, a whole pack of them, a full cotillion of felines, a bevy of whiskered beasts. Some hid under a discarded rusty trailer, some draped atop it, and all turned to watch me warily. They were clearly feral, and they were a united group- no howling scratching fights that is all I had ever seen groups of 2 or more cats do.

I didn't try to go near them. Their unified alert stance told me they would bolt if I approached. But as I ran on, I wondered what circumstances had brought some twenty cats to their communal life.

I had a similar thought as Asherel and I wandered through the Villages at Lady Lake, where Grandma lives. Everywhere I looked, there were old people, gaggles of octogenarians, swarms of retirees.

What makes them gather together like that? As we wandered the village, they were dancing to a live band. The band was playing rap and the old folk were shimmying and shaking to the beat.

I think there is a lot to be said for gathering together- safety in numbers, many hands making light work, and huddling together in the cold. Face it, being alone is lonely. Those feral cats may have to share their bites of Mickey but with all those eyes prowling, they certainly increase their chances of catching him before he ducks into costume with all his bodyguards around him.

I love how God tells us that when He is ready, He will bring us back from all our lonely outposts of sin and struggle.... And He will GATHER us together and together we will be restored to Him.

Those feral cats and rapping old folk are on to something.

Deuteronomy 30:4 (NIV)
Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.

- Nothing is impossible with God
- hollowcreekfarm.org