Number 1

New thing here at Have Genes Will Travel:

The Cat of the Month.

I do solemnly swear, that, as a Cat Person and a Blogger, I shall blog about the cats. Each cat will have its time. Its very own post. Not to be upstaged by any other cat or random marauding dog or hamster.

Our cast of several includes:
Mitten
Brand X
Errnestine (yes, two r's)
Rhubarb
Megan
Priscilla
Walter
Shadow (aka Boots)
Kathea
Casper
Tigger (aka Iron Guts)
Man-O-War (previously Bing)
Orange Bunny Baskerville
Sasha
Annie
Pandemonium
Fofa
Kika
Yersinia Pestis
Natalie
Lexington (now Hector)
Sienne
The Frumious Bandersnatch

I know, I know it's not travel. The blog is not "Have genes will stay home". But, honestly, I do a lot more staying home than traveling, and I don't have anything on my calendar until the end of March. So while stuff happens more slowly staying home, it still accumulates to a bigger pile of blogfodder than the traveling.

As our first Cat of the Month, the very first cat: Mitten.
Mitten arrived with her littermate, Brand X, in the summer after second grade. I had the dog, so my brothers got to have cats. Spread that animal-keeping responsibility around. Not that the cats were ever associated with a particular kid (unlike Blackie, who was definitely mine to feed and walk).
Mitten was a black & white shorthair kitten, with, you guessed it, white mitten paws. That’s about all there is to say about Mitten, because she was also the first cat to disappear. One day, just gone. Possibly lost, possibly coyote lunch. No pictures, no exploits, no endlessly retold anecdotes.

So here’s to Mitten, my very first cat.