nostr:npub1jdvvva54m8nchh3t708pav99qk24x6rkx2sh0e7jthh0l8efzt7q9y7jlj

Like cats? This was my cat Earl; died back in 2009. He was a king among cats. He taught me a most valuable lesson: cats (and all beings for that matter) are people too.

Before Earl, I thought, meh, animals are just dumb programs. Cute, treat them with kindness, but dumb programs. One day, while at college, a friend and I were sunbathing on the roof of our house. Earl was curled up sleeping on my belly. I was whistling some random tune. Earl started meowing at me emphatically. I ignored him. He proceeded to get up, walk over to my head, sit down, and start gently patting my lips with his paw.

I couldn’t believe what had just happened, as my friend said, “Dude I think he just told you to shut up!” So I stop whistling. Satisfied, Earl curls back up on my belly. My friend, being a scientist type, says, “well, we need to do a control. Start whistling again.” So I start whistling again. I swear, with like a cat sigh and eye roll, Earl gets back up, come back over to my head, sits back down, and starts pawing my lips again.

This was a life changing experience for me. It was the first time in my life I could not deny this kind of obvious thinking interacting connection between me and a non-human being that went way beyond anything I’d convinced myself was possible.

From then on when I looked at Earl, I was awed to think, ‘damn. There’s a thinking feeling being in there: just. like. me.

I still miss him and think of him with gratitude as the being who taught me to recognize the being in all beings.

P.s. Nice Evangelion profile banner. Very esoteric. What a crazy anime.