I heard snarling and ghastly howl come through my window on one beautiful sunny day in the middle of my work week, sheltering in place and working from home. The type of day where just walking outside and standing in the sun under  blue skies blanketing the earth, created a sense of peace and well-being.  Who could be screaming and howling? Creating drama like this in the middle of such a beautiful day?  The street was sleepy and quiet, there was no wind and even the palms were  stilled from their usual swishing and swaying in the gentle afternoon breeze.

I rushed to the window and peeked through the blinds. Three cats were positioned in a circle in my front yard. Their  backs arched and their hair standing on end creating spiky war Mohawks.  There was an old, tough looking orange tabby. His fur was smeared with dark grease and dust from the alleys and back yards.  There was a huge plush Norwegian Forest Cat with green eyes and then a short haired gray and white tuxedo cat. They hunched down, tense, cowering letting out a sporadic moan, or howl.  They cringed and slowly slunk away from each over the course of several minutes.  Eventually, they backed down and slunked away, giving up the fight. Dispelling all their plans to engage in open, violent warfare with one another.  

Our kitten watched from the window. Did he remember his last fight? When he was only 3 months old,  a random alleycat had delivered deep scratches and bites. His recovery consisted of  three visits to the vet, pain meds, antibiotics and wearing a cone for six weeks. He healed well and seemed ready and wanting to jump into the fray again. They kept coming around even jumping on to the outside ledges of the house to look in at him through the windows.   I bent to look out the window and a tabby glared in at me and howled. I was somewhat offended.  What gaul, to hiss at me while I was in my house!  I stepped away and went back to work.  The mornings carried on like this. Cats venturing into our yard, random howls and screeching, heralding spring and the time for cats to emerge and stake out their summertime turf.  Territories the would be filled with adventure, mating  and languishing in the hot days to come.