Airplane View: Lessons Learned from Our Cats
61Originally written in 2004, this essay would likely enjoy a larger audience as part of a hubmob than sitting on a harddrive all alone.
Like most little girls, I loved cats, and especially Snowball. She was my very own cat. And not unlike many girls about four years old, I tested Snowball's patience by dressing her up in doll clothes and getting too close to her newborn kittens. But I never wanted to hurt my kitty; I just wanted to share my fun.
One of my favorite things as a small child was the exhilaration of an "airplane ride". My daddy, and sometimes my granddaddy, would hold me by the arms and spin around in a circle, letting me fly! I was bigger than Snowball, like the grownups were bigger than me. I thought she would like an airplane ride. But, lucky her! She had a tail! She would be able to spin and see the scenery! On my airplane rides, I could only see the face of my pilot.
We lived on a dead-end dirt road, and that road was my runway. I had plenty of room to spin without bumping into something-or bumping Snowball into something. But just after lift off, I heard Mama yell, "Stop!" She was screaming and running towards me. Startled, I let go, and Snowball flew away. She had a successful landing and taxied quickly out of sight. I thought my mother had scared her.
I was punished, though I don't really remember the details. I remember only the emotions: fear, surprise, the painful process of realizing what I had done. I honestly did not know I was hurting the cat, but I would not convince Mama of my good intentions. I don't think I even tried to justify what suddenly seemed so cruel.
Snowball forgave me. She was not seriously harmed, and she joined me for tea parties again, and she still let me pet her kittens. In fact, Snowball and I more easily reconciled our differences than my mother and I usually did. This is one of my earliest childhood memories, and while many details of the day have faded, an important lesson remained. Life is all about perspective, and children and cats have perspectives of their own.
Charlie
Petey and Beaches were our first "children", before my human daughter came along. They tolerated her curiosity and affection with only an occasional swat when she tugged too hard at their fur. I figured the cats would set their own boundaries, and I used a soft voice if I had to step in with, "No, no, baby. That hurts the kitty."
As my daughter approaches womanhood, as tall as me now and developing curves that make me wince, I melt when I see her lift Charlie, our latest, most wonderfully tolerant cat, from a sleeping ball on the couch. He stretches, head back, in her arms, and she purrs into his neck before she cradles him to nap on her lap.
Copyright Dineane Whitaker 2008 - Please do not copy and paste this article, but feel free to post a link using this url: http://hubpages.com/_ndwcopyright/hub/Airplane-View-Lessons-Learned-Our-Cats
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Confess!
Where you ever inadvertantly "cruel" to your childhood pet?
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Thanks for commenting, Dottie - I glad to know I wasn't the only "cruel" kid!
Ha! What a great hub! My sisters and I had a similar game we liked to play with our poor little kitty, Rascal, which involved putting him in the middle of a sheet, lifting up all four corners, and flinging him into the air! Wee! What fun! Wait... where are you going???
Poor thing... he ran into a busy street at a very young age to avoid any more years of our torturous abuse.
I once made a collar out of knotted string for our Australian Shepherd. She, of course, was very tolerant of it, and would never have pulled, but Mom freaked out because she thought that I would strangle Trixi.
Thanks for 'fessing up Melissa and KT - the comments so far have inspired me to add a poll. I'm feeling much less guilty the more I read :-)
Glad that you snagged this off your harddrive...it was probably getting lonely on there. :)
Thanks for being an awesome HubMobster!
Thanks, Ryan!
More from My Life
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- What is there to do 'round here?
Since we moved to Plymouth, NC a little over a year ago, I've been whining - just like I did in high school - that there's nothing to do 'round here. Well, I have to admit, I've just been lazy. Eastern NC is rich in historical attractions, outdoor activities, and adventure opportunities. I realized it was time for some of the spring activities to kick into gear - things we attended last year like Mackeys CrabBash, the Civil War Reinactment, and various outdoor music events in downtown Plymouth. I started looking online for scheduling details and stumbled upon the new website for the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. Before we moved to Plymouth, I took advantage of various networking groups. Meetup.com was a great tool for finding all kinds of groups, from business networking to bowling to book clubs. I've browsed meetup since we've been "back home," but there are just a handful of Greenville groups that remotely interest me, and I'm looking for actvities closer to Plymouth. I don't know why I didn't think about the Chamber earlier, but just as I checked out the membership application and made up my mind to join, I noticed an event on the calender - "Hospitality Training". The description read, "Be a tourist for a day in your home county. Learn about hospitality and how it affects your business and your area." Now, I've been saying for ages that I'm going to start writing more travel articles focused on eastern NC, so how perfect was this? And it was free! I hustled to the chamber office to turn in my membership application, pay the dues, and to register for the training. Jennifer Arnold, Director, explained that the morning would include classroom-type sessions, and the afternoon would consist of visits to the downtown museums (how many small towns have THREE museums on a beautiful downtown waterfront?), a boat tour on the Roanoke River, and an optional airplane tour. Did I mention this was free? The event is co-sponsored by the Chamber, the Washinton County NC Cooperative Extension, Washington County Travel & Tourism, and the Plymouth Downtown Development Assocation (search "Plymouth DDA" on facebook). Washington County Extension Director Rebecca Liverman and Hyde County Extension director Mac Gibbs co-hosted the morning sessions with a mission to "Foster economic development by improving customer service, enhancing North Carolina Pride and strengthing communities." I wasn't surprised to learn that NC is the 6th most visited state of the US. I was surprised, however, to learn that toursim in Washington County generated $12.01 million in 2009. Thanks to our struggling economy in general, this number was actually down by almost 10% from 2008. After the morning training sessions and lunch, Jennifer escorted us to the downtown Plymouth museums. We started at the Maritime Museum, and then crossed the street to climb to the top of the Roanoke River Lighthouse. Next stop was God's Creation Wildlife Museum, and we finished up at the Port O'Plymouth Museum. Jennifer gave us a nice introduction to each museum but left plenty for us to explore on our own at a later date. Next we enjoyed a boat ride provided by Tom Harrison, Director of Washington County Travel & Tourism. Not only was our tour guide informative, he turned out to be a hero. Our tour was interrupted when the boat's motor sputtered to a stop. With the wind fortunately in the right direction, Tom guided us gently back to the dock. While the tour might have been shortened a bit, we finished the day with a little excitement! Speaking of the wind, it turned out to be a bit too rough for our plane ride, but the day was a success. We finished up with ice cream at Norm's and shared suggestions with Rebecca for the next event. I'm still shaking my head that this training experience is available, right here in Plymouth, and at no charge! The event that I attended was the second hosted, and at least two more are planned. I hope more local businesses take advantage of this valuable resource. As for me, I have confirmed a long list of writing topics about something to do 'round here.
Dottie1 3 years ago
Hmmm...I never thought to give my cat an airplane ride, I only thought of glueing him to the rocking chair. lol The things we did because we loved our cats!