‘Zatara’ means ‘driftwood’ in Spanish, according to The Count of Monte Cristo and sounds
pretty fierce, according to the character given the nickname. I told Kendrick
that if we ever got a kitten, this is what we would name her. When we found our
Zatara – obviously I knew, the instant I laid eyes on her photo on Facebook! –
she was called ‘Amorita’, Spanish for ‘little love’ by her foster mom. So her
full name, Zatara Amorita, means love drifting towards us and washing up on the
shores of our lives. And that is exactly what she has been, a treasure coming
in from the sea of God’s love.
Growing up, at friends’ sleepovers I would follow their cats
around, seeking a moment of affection and fascinated by their natures so
different from the dogs I had known. They would let me pet them briefly before
disappearing to wherever it is that cats go, through some time dimensional
portal or something. My mother and I are allergic – and my dad emotionally
allergic (dad confirm please?) – so it was only ever dogs for us.
The grace of God in a kitten is her fluff and her consistent
purr. In our adult ways, insisting on working our fingers to the bone and then
having a sad face about it too when we’re home, a kitten is incongruous with
her continual playfulness. She pounces and swipes and leaps with a power
unexpected in such scrawny legs. Her curiosity turns anything into a toy –
pens, 10c coins, hairclips, paper clips – not much is safe from those sweetly
padded paws and those eyes that are black saucers of mischievousness. She’s
come into our lives when I’ve most needed to meet a kitten: a sponge to soak up
and give back uncomplicated and unquestioning affection.
As God loves me in a way I’ll never know because I’m simply
less than Him, this creature I’ve bought – with money that she will never
understand – and forced to live in a house – in a rental system she’ll never
understand – is completely adored by me for her whiskers, black fuzziness and
golden eyes – beauty that she hasn’t the notion of.
The grace of God in a kitten is the bond between man and
beast, dominion over creation with stewardship that is meaningful and
rewarding, even if you are forking out large sums of money for cat scratchers
for the sake of the furniture.
Here’s to my first cat, who will be loved and gives love and
is to me a perfect animal.
