一样的

那天姑奶奶来坐了一个钟头，我和她之间差了有六十多岁，天知道我们该聊些什么东西。讲讲停停，我们说到了……养不养猫是一样的，不养猫，老鼠会吃掉你的米；养了猫，那份米给了猫吃。养雌猫和雄猫也是一样的，雄猫个子大胃口也大，每顿可能要吃掉雌猫的两倍；但是雌猫会生小猫，她吃不了，生下小猫来一起吃你的米。所以无论如何，你总要留出一小份的粮食，供养你身边的小动物们。


于是我不再为每天为猫留出的那一口饭心疼了，反而它让我觉得，尽管我生活在一个农田被侵占或荒置，河流变成水泥池子，树林垃圾横飞的不再自然淳朴的农村里，我仍然与自然有着一点不可分割的联系。


我家屋后的这一个农家小院，在二十年里确实是发生了不大不小一些变化，but within the duration of 5 to 8 years, it always remain the same, despite the uniform seasonal changes. So without the cat and her occasional dates and little ones, there is really little to hold our observation, not to say thought.


The roofs are now not just roofs because M(our cat) constantly lies there in breezy summer evenings to avoid the noisy kitties.
The loquat tree no longer bears good fruits, but it serves as a reliable and quick sanctuary whenever Aunt or Uncle brings their beloved dog.
The door at the upper end of the stair is only closed in two occasions, that is one, when typhoon pours tons of rainwater in from the balcony, and second, when we used to keep off M when she was little and like to bite our toes to get us play with her. (The next morning, when we opened the door, she's still there, behind the door. I didn't know whether she spent the whole night there, just waiting for us.)
Several days ago, it was beginning to rain again. I went up and down to check whether something left in the sun to dry. Then I saw one of the yellow kitties still lying steadily on a pile of died twigs under the tree. "What a fool," I looked at it. It looked back at me and didn't stir, as the rain still picking up.
There are endless stories between M and her babies, M and me, and M and my parents and grand parents. I am too lazy to elaborate, but I want to say our M, who don't seem to care too much about it, that it is you who brings the softest and loveliest part of my parents and grandparents out, you are the glue of our family.