Tonight about 5pm the door bell rang...I answered it, and a woman I had never seen before was standing there. She introduced herself and said, 'First of all, I have to tell you, I just love your yard' she said she walks by every day, and she had noticed a bag outside on the walk that had not been moved in a while, and she worried that something was wrong with us. (the bag is rabbit manure, that I haven't used yet) I thanked her, for checking on us....and we began talking about all kinds of things...cats, rabbit manure, roses...she said that she liked the "Cat Crossing Sign" and I told her that people didn't seem to watch for the cat, and if one of the people who speeds by ever hits my cat, and I am there to see it sparks would fly!....so she then said, 'Oh you mean you have a cat?' I could hear Horsie at the door, so I said "Here he is now, that is Horsie" and I let him outside. She reached to pet him, and he avoided her...not normal behavior for him. She and I talked for a few more minutes and he stayed across the yard. Normally he cries for attention from people that I am talking to, he can be a pest, but not this time...when she left, she passed him and again tried to pet him but he came to me instead...eventhough it was nice of her to check on us, alarm bells were going off in my head.....you know how they say people's instincts are often right-on? I just found myself wondering about her motives...like maybe she rang the door bell and if no one had answered, she might have taken that as a sign to explore. It just did not feel right.
Maybe I trust Horsie's instincts too much..but I do pay attention to how he responds to people.
