Uncle Thor's Lessons, Anecdotes and Humor

Torkatt is the last of the cats we brought here when we moved from Staten Island. He was the last cat we got while we lived there.

Torkatt first showed one Labor Day weekend after a horrendous thunderstorm. That is how he got his name. He was a half-grown cat who went about the old apartment complex mooching food. It became obvious that nobody wanted to take the friendly fellow in. Right after Yule of that year – 1998 – we took him to the veterinarian. He has been with us ever since.

Torkatt has developed an odd habit. Our front door is a French door with lots of glass. If he is looking out the front door, Torkatt will react if anyone comes on the porch. He gets up on his hind legs, claws at the glass and hisses. The brown tiger-stripe cat puts on a ferocious show. He has something of a reputation among the local postmen, who find his antics amusing.

What makes an otherwise mellow cat behave like that? Torkatt is pretty much harmless. As long as there is a door between him and those he hopes to scare, he is quite brave. Open the door and he will hiss once and then run for cover.

Our ferocious cat is a source of amusement. If a person acted like that, people would think he is a nut case or a dangerous individual. Let a cat do it and folks think he is funny. Perhaps it is because we might expect a watchdog to bark and put up a fierce front at the door, but not a cat.

There is no lesson or moral here. There are no great examples to be drawn from silly cats. It is just a funny thing, and I am not sure if I like a reputation as the house with the wacky cat. Well, it must be better than being known as the house where the crazy guy lives, or the neighborhood weirdo house. Thankfully we will never have either of those reputations. On that note, having the wacky cat is not such a bad thing.