Frankie Weiss and Her Magic

When these homes were built in 1960-61, the builders had to put up a retaining wall three houses to the right of ours. The house above the retaining wall was built on a hill and the earth could wash down when it rained.   This retaining wall had drainpipes set four to six inches below the wall top. Birds took up residence in the drainpipes, flying in and out and gathering food for their nestlings.

The orange Tabby had his eyes on the birds; they had no business raising a family in his domain. However, they were too far out of his reach to capture.

One early evening, enjoying the scenery from my patio, I noticed the Tabby had figured out a way to get to the top of the retaining wall.

He was sitting on top of the wall, directly above a drainpipe, his right paw dangling just above the opening; he was waiting for a bird to emerge on its food- gathering mission. Finally, one of the birds came out and stood on the edge of the drainpipe ready to take off, as my eyes beheld this amazing scene; the Tabby with a mighty swish of its right front leg knocked the bird off its perch.

The orange Tabby quickly jumped, down the nine or ten feet to the lawn, where the bird lay, more than likely dead, the cat put its mouth around it, with head and tail proudly held up, walked across our lawn to give its keeper a gift of the bird it just killed.

The benevolence and cruelty of Nature were at work.