Monday Musings...

I'd best apologize straight away if the post seems a bit on the dour and depressing side.
There's a good reason (as usual).
They say that God never gives you more than He knows you can handle.
If that is the case, our Lord must know I can handle way much more than I want to right now.
Hobo, our (he adopted us) community cat has been M.I.A. since Friday morning.
Talk about an emotional "one-two sucker-punch".
Never saw that one coming.
I last fed him around 7 PM on Thursday night, and he came onto the patio just like he always has and ate his food. Where he went after that, and what could have possibly happened to him might remain a mystery for a long time.
He didn't come out for his breakfast on Friday, even after repeated tapping on the dish I use.
I found out that doing that ALWAYS brought him around, and I could hear him meow as he got closer to the patio, so I knew he was on his way.

The food sat all day without being touched, and if there was one thing I came to know about Hobo, it's that since he was first seen on our garage roof back in late July, it's that he would never miss a meal when I offered it to him.
He was tardy a couple mornings, but it takes time to wake up once in a while.
Well, it's been three days running, and STILL no sight nor sound of him.

I'd like to believe he found a home elsewhere, and was taken in...that's what I'd LIKE to believe.
But, considering the people that infest this area, I find such a pipe-dream unlikely.
I don't think he was hit by a car, he was too fleet-of-paw for that.
Only the squirrels could outrun him, and that was usually up a tree.

Naturally, under such circumstances, you HOPE for the best (for him) yet you simply expect the worst. I just don't trust any of the "inhabitants" around here, no matter the ethnicity or age.
If there was ANY way possible for him to get here to eat...he would have found it.
He was quite regular in that regard. You came to expect him.
There are some who  might say "Well, he's JUST a cat"...not to us, especially in light of Rassie's recent passing. He was MUCH more than a cat.

Hobo was that one thing I could reach out for, as I dealt with (and am still dealing with) the passing of my longtime "buddy", Rassie. Hobo had come to be viewed as a balm, softening that rough spot in my life, making the pain and anguish of losing a beloved pet of 20 years a bit more bearable. Having Hobo around was something I (and Wifey) had come to look forward to every time we went outside.

Hobo would wait with me for Wifey to come home, and there was never a leg of ours that was left "unrubbed" by him.
Now, I've more questions than answers as to what could have happened to Hobo.
There is an ancient saying from Lao Tzu that goes something like this:
"The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long."

So it has been with our furry friend, Hobo.
He came along at the right time, and he left my life all too soon.
We never got to say a proper farewell.

And yes, some would say "But he wasn't even your cat". Perhaps not, but he had to have known how much affection he received, and how he had become ingrained in both my life and Wifey's over the couple months we knew him. We even talked about calling Animal Care and Control to have his microchip number (whatever it was) placed in our name, because the officer told me we could do that when she came out after the first few days to look him over.

That would seem to no longer be an option at this point.
And to be perfectly honest...it HURTS... it hurts a LOT.
Losing Rassie was bad enough, but to also have Hobo disappear within 48 hours after that, is something I never though I'd have to face.

Now, I'm not going to blame God or be angry at Him in any way. I suppose what I would like are some answers as to why this had to happen. If there is supposed to be a grander scheme, please, let me in on a part of it, because I want to understand.
I could always blame myself for not bringing Hobo inside Thursday night (when it was raining).

That might have side-stepped whatever fate had in store that night.
If Hobo pulls a "Prodigal Son" and does return, he will be greeted with ALL the love and care I can provide.
But, if we are destined to never meet again, I can rest assured that there will be another soul who will be waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge...

So, it is with a badly broken heart that I turn the last page and close the cover of "The Hobo Chronicles".
Thank you, my little furry friend for those many fun times we shared, all too brief as they were.
I found myself remembering the words of Frank L. Baum who once wrote:
"Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable." (The Wizard of Oz)
Winter has come for me much too early this year, and I will miss the hell out of you.
Thank you for all you did FOR me, and all you were TO me.
I will miss him dearly as if he were a trusted family member...because, in his own way, he WAS.

Farewell, my little Hobo...I'll see you at the Bridge.