My Cat Weasley

Last summer, while working in the yard one day, I heard the unmistakable mew of a kitten. After a short search I located the offender stuck on a fence rail. I rescued the tiny beast and showed him to my wife.

We decided that we would take him to a shelter on Monday. Since he was covered in fleas, we bathed him repeatedly. Cats aren’t particularly fond of baths, but he actually seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps he sensed that we were ridding him of the fleas.

On Monday we learned that nobody would take such a young kitten. If we took him to a shelter, he would be immediately euthanized. That thought did not sit well with us, and after some anguish, we decided we would keep him. We named him Weasley, after a character in the Harry Potter series.

Weasley has been a source of fun and frustration ever since. For the first few months he purred constantly. My wife took him to have his photo taken with Santa, and he relished the attention. It also didn’t take him long to discover our house plants, which he apparently decided were his own personal play toys. He proceeded to methodically destroy a large number of the plants, as well as other personal possessions.

He will often jump onto the kitchen counter. We put him down and he jumps back. We will repeat this little game over and over and over. We aren’t sure whether we should hate him for being so stubborn, or celebrate his persistence.

Persistence is a good trait. It is often necessary when building a painting company. It helps us weather difficult times and provides us with the strength to stick to our plan. In short, persistence helps us persist (no surprise there, since persist is the root of persistence).

But persistence must also be tempered with a healthy dose of rationality. To persist in the face of evidence that our efforts are futile is a waste of time and resources. Then persistence becomes stubbornness, and that is neither attractive nor effective. Weasley however, may argue otherwise.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008