Adoption...

So, I'm thinking about adopting.  A cat.  Apparently the park is a magnet for lonely, orphaned animals, including cats, chickens, dogs, and, rumor has it, peacocks.  I've been noticing the cats hopping in and out of the dumpsters and sunning in the parking area, but didn't think anything of them until yesterday.  While dumping a bucket of water outside, Caroline called me over to the maintenance shop.  In the middle of all the guys was a little orange and black feline timidly bouncing from hand to hand in an attempt to gather as much attention as possible without getting caught. 

Being a cat person, I bent down to say hi.  It didn't take long before she noticed me and padded over to let me scratch her ears.  She looked perfectly content, a great addition to a house.  Wait!  I thought.  You aren't even living in your own house yet, and you're already finding four-legged roommates...maybe you should focus on actually finishing the house first!  But then I looked back at her and considered how cool it would be to have such a chipper mouse hunter roomie.  She reminds me of one of my parents' cats, Ginger Ale: stout and compact, with a smooth, powerful purr, kind of like a turbo diesel Volkswagen Jetta.  A man's cat, but cute enough too.

Last night as I was laying in the loft listening to the rain fall on the tin roof, I considered some of the challenges of tiny house pet ownership.  Obviously, there's the space issue.  A fairly limited amount of creatures or stuff can fit inside and still allow for functional movement.  I've seen some dog owners build tiny houses, which to me seems to be too close of quarters.  Like other houses, hair and dirt can definitely collect, but perhaps the small space might make it easier to clean.  When my friend Eric came over last night, I also realized that pet allergies can be a big bummer for some, and probably bigger the smaller the space gets.

So, there's a lot for me to consider before I take a big step like that.  But, on the bright and exciting side of things, once I'm done, I will have my own house, so if I want a pet, you can be damn-sure I can get one!  Until then, it looks like the dumpster kitties will have to keep hangin' with the raccoons.