June 24th, 1999
Last night was our belated laundry night; this owing to our being out of town on the weekend and the laundry room being in use every other night until that point. I say 'our' in that the laundry contains clothing that belongs to both of us. The actual laundry process is handled wholly by yours truly. I've done it so often that it is a matter of routine - first load in the wash ($1.50), wait 30 minutes. Toss that into the dryer ($1.25) for 60 minutes, the first 30 minutes of which is taken up by the second load in the wash. The entire process takes a few hours.Around 10:00pm, I ventured down to check the last dryer load. As I passed the front door of our building I spied a familiar shape sitting on the front step. It was the all-white stray male cat who frequents our neighbourhood. I've nicknamed him Bernie, derived from our street name Oakburn.
Noting that the laundry required more time to completely dry, I returned to our apartment. There I grabbed a handful of Hill's Science Diet kibbles and a plastic container filled with fresh water. I went out to the front stoop, where Bernie still sat. I joined him there, and placed the food and water on the concrete beside him. We sat together in the cooling night air for about 15 minutes, Bernie stuffing his face with hard food and me watching his every move.
After washing the food down with a healthy draw on the water, Bernie had a thorough post-meal bath. His ears have nicks in them, no doubt from a few back alley tussles with other Toms. Wirey looking, likely around 5 years old, he appears to be as healthy as can be expected for being on the streets. Humans have been in his life at some point in his past; long enough at least to neuter him. Abandoned or lost; it's difficult to determine.
He shows his appreciation for the meal by purring affectionately and bunting into me. He lets me pet him for a couple of minutes then gets up, stretches in that way cats do when they're ready to go walkabout, and wanders off into the Toronto night. I wish him well and ask him to keep away from the roads. As he disappears under some bushes I toss the remaining water onto the grass and head inside to retrieve the remaining laundry.
Were it not for already having 4 cats (who would not look too kindly upon this) I would bring him in off the street and give him a good home. I hope someone does soon; he deserves one.