After 17+ years of faithful mouse-hunting service, our cat Cornelius (Corn) died today.
The day we selected him from a litter of young kittens, he ran away and hid behind a large pile of firewood. We could have simply picked another kitten from that litter, but we really liked Corn, so I moved half a cord of wood to get him. The name Cornelius was actually picked a long time before he was born. One time, Vicky and I drove past Cornelius Ave. in East Nicolaus, CA and agreed that we would call our future cat Cornelius.
Corn loved to sleep in warm places, like on top of my laptop.
Corn certainly wasn't the easiest-going cat. He was a born hunter (on one occasion he took on an adult turkey vulture!) and made sure our place was always rodent and lizard-free. He had a bit of a wild side and would often hide in the grass and jump out. He had little time for staying on our laps; that's just the way he was and always remained. We would always warn kids that came over to be careful--he could strike at any time, as you can see in this video:
Corn in action
Corn was extremely curious and even checked out a few books on HTML5 late in his life.
Everything reminds us of him now.
We buried Cornelius in our backyard today in a spot overlooking the meadow. While we put some flowers down, a beautiful little white butterfly flew by and showed up one more time later. I think he is in a good place now.
"A stone I died and rose again a plant;
A plant I died and rose an animal;
I died an animal and was born a man.
Why should I fear? What have I lost by death?"
—Rumi
Rest in peace, Cornelius. You'll always be in our hearts.
Posts
