It's Curly's Day!

Officially, even. Commenter Missouri Bird sent me an Official Proclamation from the Office of the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, which states the following:

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, Curly was adopted by Jeff Preston on June 6, 2003. It was then that Jeff visited Happy Tails, a rescue and adoption center, and almost immediately upon meeting Jeff, Curly loved him. The attraction was mutual, and Curly went to live with Jeff; and

WHEREAS, Curly was between two and three years old when adopted; his birthday, as it were, is celebrated on the anniversary of his adoption, making June 6, 2006 Curly's fifth birthday; and*

WHEREAS, the connection of Curly and Jeff came at the behest of Jeff's friends J.J. and Erica, both of whom knew of Jeff's affection for cats and his sorrowful loss of B.B. J.J., Erica and Jeff went to Happy Tails to check out the kitties, and found themselves in a room with about forty cats -- some wandering around, some enjoying themselves in their cages. Upon seeing a sad, crying cat in a cage, Jeff put his hand through the wire and Curly immediately took to him, licking his fingers and probably whispering "Choose me! Please! I want to go home with you -- only you!" For the remainder of the visit, while Jeff met other cats, Curly stayed close to him, following him, no doubt whispering to him... Jeff had been chosen by Curly; and

WHEREAS, Jeff is a good guardian, Curly a good kitty. They are clearly perfectly suited to each other, as anyone who reads Jeff's blog knows. Jeff generously shares pictures of Curly with his readers, and the photographs and commentary enrich our days. Curly is happy and playful, and is provided plenty of toys, good food (including that yummy tomato sauce), and the caring attention of his human, Jeff. Curly still communicates his tenderness for Jeff by licking his hands and fingers, and meowing and purring. Jeff returns the affection, and together they remind us that a cat's friendship is not always easy to gain, but it is always worth having. Whether chasing the laser pointer or sitting on the ledge watching his world, Curly has a good friend in Jeff, and all are better for it.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, KAY BARNES, MAYOR of Kansas City, Missouri, do hereby salute Jeffraham Prestonian, for his rescue and care of Curly on that rainy Spring day. I proclaim June 6, 2006,

Curly's Day

and strongly encourage people so inclined, no matter what city or state you call home, to rescue a cat and ask it to live with you for the remainder of its lives....

Done this 27th day of March 2006.

(signed, sealed)

KAY BARNES, MAYOR

* I may have mistakenly told Missouri Bird that Curly's "guesstimated" age at adoption was 2-3; it was actually between 1-2 years old. So, today is being celebrated as Curly's 4th birthday. :)

You can click the photo at right to see the full-sized photo (~1MB) of the proclamation (it wouldn't fit on my scanner, and my scanner's not particularly good near the edges of the scanning area, so piecing it together would have been somewhat ugly).

And, what kind of birthday daddy would I be if I didn't have a celebratory video to share?



Curly and I have spent the whole day together, up until now. He was petted, fed, petted some more, and we've played tetherbunny, laser pointer, bird-in-a-bag, and chase the string. He also got a good brushing, out on the balcony, on this near-perfect, near-Summer day. He finally laid down in the dirty clothes pile for a nap at about 2:30, so I topped off his water and food, and packed up the GWPDA Coalition notebook, and here I am.

How's your day, goin'?
.