An Unexpected Reunion

She disappeared without a trace in mid-July. We aren't exactly sure of the date, we were busy with life... We thought she might have been in an accident--a car possibly? Or, perhaps, she had encountered a coyote while out on a nature walk... Regardless, after six weeks, we assumed we would never see her again.

Last night I was grilling kabobs when I heard a familiar cry. I looked down from the deck to see Shade bounding across the lawn. We ran out to greet her and she seemed unabashedly happy to see us. She snuggled, and purred, and looked at us expectantly. She was happy to be home.

While happy to be home, she was not happy to be reunited with her babies. Trane and Nekko have grown a lot in six weeks. She left a pair of adoring kittens, but was reunited with two strangers, full-grown cats who remembered her, but whom she didn't recognize. And her former friend (Chubby) has become nothing but a nuisance to her.

Shade seems unnaturally comfortable in our house--odd for the outdoor cat she used to be. My theory is that someone adopted her as a house cat. I think she escaped through an open door or window at first chance to return home. Shade has remained in the garage all day... Never wandering beyond the driveway. I think she is fearful that she may be taken from her home again.

We're glad to have her back. And the mice better beware!