the ceaseless torture of adulthood

When Nosegay was brand-new, it did not seem unusual that he had a splash of white across one side of his face. There's often a composite kitten in a batch. His markings made him appear like a flower composed of complex petals. A viola perhaps.

Nosegay took to his name. He was a posy. He carried the scent of fresh hay, granaries, pillowcases right off the clothesline, fistfuls of woods violets.

He smiled and smiled. He adored people, gazed at them when they spoke and patted them lightly on the cheek.

nosegay, november 5, 2000

As Nosegay became long and lanky, his pansy mug grew to be dignified, handsome, gentle, and wise. Truly a noble cat.

But take a closer look at Nosegay.

You will see that the white side of his face is considerably different from the tabby side in more ways than just the color. It is smaller. His chin and his cheek are more slender and delicate on the white side. The tabby side is considerably beefier.

One side of his nose is smaller. His whiskers hang lower on one side. His eyes aren't even close to the same size. Nor are his ears.

Here's what happens if you double the tabby side: tabby nosegay

He now more closely resembles his sister Snooples and his brother Little Rabbit.

If you take the white side and fold it over, voila: white nosegay Now he looks more like his sister Chessie.

nosegay, september 24, 2000

These faces are interesting, but they don't hold a candle to the Real Nosegay. For he is a cat unto his own, a continuing testament to his parents. Sugarlips, his mother, is a snowy Turkish Van. Dad must have been a barrel-chested tabby.

Kittens' are like inkblots. You look into them, and you see cats of the past, cats of the future, cats padding along the horizon of your consciousness, cats you may never come to know.

I'd pay good money to see Nosegay again. Wherever he is, I am sure he wears his tabby-and-milk face with wisdom and grace. He is a diamond, shining anew at different angles. Doubly handsome, and doubly wonderful.