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| Cookie ~ The Huntress |
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| We were in the midst of building our barn to finally bring our horses’ home. I was truly looking forward to the new life ahead of me. Except for one thing…horses at home means storing hay and grain. That in my mind equals rodents. I decided we needed a cat. Since I had never cared for a cat, I realized I was in for a new experience. |
| Serendipitously, at the pet food store I met a woman that happened to have a cat available for farm duty…a perfect match. |
| Upon arrival Cookie stayed locked in the barn for a while to get her used to her new home. Since I was not very experienced in handling cats, Cookie and I started to bond slowly over those weeks. I would pet her gently from her head towards her tail, when my hand was right around her hip she would turn her head and hiss at me…I read that as “I didn’t like that”. |
| At times she would throw herself on the ground and roll around like a horse after a sweaty ride or my dog when life is just grand. I’d walk over to Cookie to pet her belly…well….wrong idea again! She got get her claws out, looked at me in disgrace, jumped up and ran into the hayloft. As I said…I had no experience with cats. |
| Then the day came when the door to the outdoors opened and Cookie ventured out with grace and dignity. I became worried that she might take off and never look back… |
| However, while she started her journey with high confidence and self-esteem, the moment she saw the first horse coming at her she zipped with spirit-speed back into the tack room. I felt relief…I realized this was her new home! |
| Right then and there I understood how foolish I was to think that I would be hiring a cat for rodent control while I in return would supply food and shelter. |
| I was in love! |
| I got a glimpse where this was leading me. If I wanted our relationship to be more than provider and mouser, Cookie required me to become more mindful. |
| Thus, Cookie and I became partners in the daily barn routines. In the early morning I would walk over to the barn to feed the animals. Cookie would say hello, go about her bathroom routine and when I was ready to clean the stalls she would supervise. Approximately six feet away she would sit and watch. However, the moment I was done with the paddocks she would be back in the barn meowing for me to pet her. I observed that she was paying close attention to where I was in my routine. Only when she knew I was near the end of the chores would she ask for attention. When I told her ‘I still have to sweep the barn before I am available to sit with you. Give me another minute”, she would hang out in the aisle or tack room and wait for me to come and see her. |
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| When I eventually entered the tack room she would march over to her filled food bowl and start eating. Hmmm, I wondered, was she waiting for me in order to eat? Well…so I petted her while she was eating, she purred in return and life in her eyes was wonderful. |
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| I became more and more curious about this little girl. Not knowing how cats think I decided to become the student and let her teach me about her life. |
| If I decided to pick Cookie up to hold her in my arms our experience would be like this… pick up cat, hold her, one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand…booing…off the arm she went. |
| I learned…Cookie does not like to be held for long. |
| I realized that she was very willing to hop on my lap when I would finally sit down after my chores. Lesson number two, if you want Cookie to be close to you…sit down! |
| Lesson number three, do not try to show Cookie off when visitors come to the barn. She will be invisible. |
| One day I watched my friend Cindy play with Cookie while the cat did her rolling routine on the floor. I finally understood…if you want to pet Cookie’s belly you must be willing to have your hand held by paws and claws while being attacked by the mouth…turns out, petting the belly and with that lesson number four wasn’t really important to me. |
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| When I would go out later at night to give the horses their last feeding Cookie would meet me in the barn. I would fill her food bowl one more time, pet her and use the brush on her silky coat. She seemed to like the brush…until she didn’t! Lesson number five: Cookie likes to be brushed, though she determines for how long. |
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| With that I also learned lesson number six, she loves routines. |
| One night while sitting in the living room she showed up on the outside of the sliding door. Just watching, just hanging out, and observing the scene. What temptation to open the door and let her in. But…I had sworn to my husband, our dog and myself that this cat is a barn cat. Lesson number seven, it is sometimes hard to stick to the rules. |
| A couple of nights later she appeared at the same window. This time she reached up on the window and started to tap the glass as if she was scratching without using her claws. My first reaction was…oh no, don’t pull on my heartstrings; I am not going to let you in as much as I love you. Yet, after a moment or two I remembered to step back into my role as the student and decided to go out and see what I had to learn. |
| As I went out the front door Cookie caught up to me within seconds. She ran down towards the barn part furious, part hesitant. When I walked into the tack room I was stunned, there was a HUGE cat sitting in her little cat house giving me the ‘what the heck are you doing here?’ look. Lesson number seven…don’t let anybody tell you that animals can’t communicate. |
| Speaking of animal communication, Cookie was my first guinea pig when I practiced communicating with animals in a meditative, spiritual way. The lesson for me…I need to create space in the brain to hear her…Cookie herself has an accent…and strong opinions. |
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| During the summer I would go out and water my flowers and shrubs. Since I now had a cat attached to me, on a six-foot invisible line that is, it became difficult to water the flowers near the road. Trying to prevent her from running into traffic I would watch when she would go on her dusk hunting trip into the woods and only then get the water hose going. Lesson number nine…this cat, like all my animals, runs my life. |
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| Lesson number ten comes full circle. One morning, after completing the barn chores, I sat down and invited Cookie to sit on my lap. I petted her, and finally stopped the ‘doing’ and got into the ‘being’ by resting my hands. That was the moment when she taught me lesson number ten. She inspired me to write about how much our animals have to teach us. How, if we sit down, if we observe, if we make ourselves available we don’t just learn about the animal we learn so much about ourselves. |
| Upon that insight I was tempted to take this little cat and hug her, I just wanted to hold her tight and cuddle her. But I had learned…true love is the kind of love that goes both ways. That respects the other as an individual, and that receives and cherishes the love that they are able to give. |
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| Dear Cookie, |
| You have taught me that love comes in many forms. It reveals itself in the paddock while I remove manure; it displays itself when I am asked to hang out while you eat, and it creates special moments when you show up for me and not for visitors. |
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| Love truly evolves; it grows with trust, and respect. By honoring that, I can now pet your belly without having to watch out for claws. I can ask for permission to pick you up and actually count to six-one-thousand. |
| And in return it means that I will get that HUGE cat out of your house anytime. |
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