Black Cat Bone

An old blues tune. Johnny Winter did the version I'm familiar with but it dates as far back as the late 1920's from what I can tell. Here's Yvan "Harper" Aucouturier & The Texas Sluts doing their rendition of the tune. The "black cat bone" was a hoodoo charm made popular in the 20's & 30's by blues players. Depending on how it was prepared it could either make you invisible or bring back a lost lover.

"I believe my old lady she done found my black cat bone
I believe my old lady she done found my black cat bone
I got a funny feeling that uh something's going on wrong"

Contrast that with this Albert Collins & Robert Cray version

"I believe my baby got a black cat bone
I believe my baby got a black cat bone
seems like everything I do I do it wrong"

That's the nature of blues. The songs change from artist to artist & sometimes from gig to gig with the same artist.

But I'm going to write about a different kind of black cat, though the blues is an appropriate format to discuss things. (& with my luck in love I can't say the lyrics aren't generally appropriate but that's another tale).

Bug. I met her in 2002. I believe the month was May. At the time I was dating a girl who was moving here from Italy. She'd moved over there a few years before & was moving back. We ended up moving in together along with Bug & Chip. Bug & Chip were Felis Silvestris Catus. Cats in other words. Not particularly special cats as far as cats go (though Bug always seemed quite photogenic & Chip "talked" quite a bit) but we became friends. The lady in question was quite busy with school & traveled a bit while we were together so it's not an exaggaration to say I spent more time with the cats than I did with her.

By 2004 the relationship was quite rocky. Well, over more or less to be honest about it. We broke up in August & by September I had moved out. The lady & I had been good friends but it seemed like we wouldn't be talking much. Not a particularly nasty break up or anything, just one where a clean break was most likely.

But in September she found out Bug had cancer. Bug was 17 years old at the time & hadn't been feeling well for a little while. We just attributed it to age. It wasn't. It was a tumor in her chest. The poor thing kept getting fluid on her lungs & we kept having to have it drained.

So I started hanging out with my ex. Partially it was for her cause I knew this was tearing her up but partially for Bug.

I owned a cat once. Or rather it owned me. I was 10 when it died (hit by a car) & I haven't had the heart to get another cat since. I was 10 & I remember crying in the shower about it. So instead I keep dating (or trying to date) women with cats of their own (not on purpsoe though it seems that way at times). Not a perfect strategy as you'll see in a minute.

Bug was a cat. Not human, not able to effeciently communicate anything but very basic messages (I'm hungry, I want to be petted, etc..) but I liked the little furry thing. She was a real sweetheart. When me & the ex went to sleep we'd soon feel her lying on the pillow right above our heads. Roughly at quarter til 6 a.m. one or the other of us would wake up to find Bug & Chip staring us down, breathing heavily wanting us to get our asses up & give them their wet food. I typed at least a few hundred (if not thousand) pages with Bug sitting on my lap.

Anyway I went over there almost every day for a few weeks trying to make my ex & Bug & Chip feel better. There really wasn't much we could do except get her chest drained when her breathing got too labored. & we gave her food that she liked. She really dug those chicken things from Wendy's. & the cheese from Burger King cheeseburgers. We gave some to Chip too cause we kinda figured he knew something wasn't right & tried to give him as much attention as we could.

To shorten this up I went home & was getting ready for work one Sunday when my ex called. In the few hours since I left Bug got worse. So I called work & told them I'd be there at some point that night & flew over to my ex's place. We took Bug to the vet & they put her down.

That was around October of 2004.

A year later my ex was living in Illinois. She called in late August to let me know Chip wasn't doing well. I didn't hear from her again til mid October. She told me Chip was dead.

I really liked the cats. I really miss them. So despite my plan of not owning a cat so I wouldn't go through that feeling of loss again - well it didn't work out so well.

In '96 I dated a girl with two cats. We dated about a year & split up. I saw her at a bar a few years later & she told me that one of the cats had passed. I remember being cool but when I got home & started to think about it I cried my ass off. I haven't talked to her since so I have no idea how the other cat is doing but I assume the poor thing has passed by now.

There was a very special lady I dated (though she's quick to point out it was never "official") for a while who had a cat. We never shacked up but I did spend some time with her cat (who shall go nameless cause I always get the name wrong) & think we had a decent human-feline bond type thing going on. I haven't seen the cat in about a year & a half (though I've seen the lady a few times). While talking one day I asked how the cat was doing & she told me the cat "was in heaven". I really started to tear up a bit before she explained that she meant that the cat was just really digging their new place.

So in the past decade there have been 3 ladies whom I've cared for a great deal & there have been 5 cats between them all. I know 3 of the cats are gone & presumably the 4th as well. The 5th seems to be doing well & I hope that doesn't change anytime soon for my sake as well as the young lady's. & 2 of the ladies in question are pretty much done with me romantically & vice versa. The 3rd I have really no clue about. It could go either way. Truthfully I'm not that optimistic about things but it's hard to give up hope when you care about someone. & her cat.

Anyway I'm writing about this because of two of my old friends that aren't around anymore. They both passed around this time last year & the year before respectively. Shame as fall is my favorite time of year (well it's tied with early winter at least). I won't get all weepy & whine about it if you talk to me but when I'm alone typing I do miss Bug on my lap & Chip standing up with his front paws on my leg (he was never a good jumper but he tried bless his little heart) chirping for some attention.

I have some pics of Bug & Chip up & I'm trying to resize another one of the cat who shall remain nameless (though my photo editing program is acting nasty tonight). If it seems silly to spend so much time reminiscing about four legged mammals who never fetched anything for me you're probably right. But all humans are silly sometimes about some things I reckon. For what it's worth they were friends as much as a non-human can be so maybe it's not so silly to miss them after all?