Tycho

Tuesday evening the family was out in the front yard. I had just mowed, and Tanya & baby Wade from across the street were visiting. From down the street comes this cat. He's friendly enough--he played with the neighbors for a minute, and tolerated both toddler boys. I picked him up and commented what a nice-looking cat he was. I'm a sucker for stray cats. Ask Oscar, he showed up and hung around for 16 years.

As we went inside, this cat comes along. Fine, he's clean and well-mannered. I take Buddy for his evening walk, and we pass a woman on the next block setting out a dish of food.

"Did you lose a cat?' I asked.

"No," she replied. "I'm looking after this stray. He's almost white, with dark stripes on his legs and tail."

"Oh. I know him. He's in my house. Do you know where he belongs?"

She explained that the folks across the street from her had him, but left him behind when they moved. She already has two cats and just couldn't keep a third.

The timing is interesting. I had been talking with another couple in the neighborhood (you meet a lot of people walking the dog) about adopting their cat. She was allergic to him, and was looking for a new home. I was all set to get back with them when this stray showed up.

Anyway, he's spent two nights with us and we bought a bag of food, so I guess he's ours now. Meet Tycho:



I guessing he's about 9 months old. His coat is extremely soft, and judging by his markings, I think he's half-Siamese, and half tabby. He's definitely got the blue eyes, dark points and the Siamese voice. His disposition is super-sweet; he lets Ian pick him up and carry him around. You can hear him purring from the far end of the house.



Naming him was fun. I originally started with Descartes, but it just didn't roll off the tongue quite right. Besides, I can just imagine trying to spell it for the girl at the vet's office. I like the way Tycho rhymes with "psycho." And if you think about it, he's bright in the middle with rays coming off of him, kinda like this:



And if we should wind up with a second cat, we could name him Kepler.