Goodbye, Sandy

I had a little talk with Sandy yesterday. I told her that it was our last full day together. We spent the afternoon on the 3rd floor balcony and watched the sun set over the mountains. She came in to the house last night, and slept on the couch in the living room near me. In the morning, I fed her and gave her water, and then she went up to the laundry porch to have her traditional post breakfast nap. The pool guy came by and I gave him some money and a big bag of cat food and told him to put some food in her bowl every morning and also make sure she has fresh water every day. I had already placed her bowls outside, and he took the cat food bag and secured it in a storage area that he uses. I shall miss Sandy, a lot. I took her in when she was just a little baby and being harassed by a larger cat. I protected her, and fed her, and though she is still quite feral, we have developed an emotional bond. But now, it is time for me to go. I thought about taking her to the new place, but this villa in West Golf is her home. It is what she knows, and she will have food there until the owner arrives on the 25th of March. She is a big girl now, though still quite gentle with me; but she can defend her place in the sun: I’ve seen her do it. She can also do amazingly graceful acrobatics, climbing up and down various parts of the house. It shall be a rough life for her at first while I am gone, and she is all alone. The other night she came back from a midnight foray with a cut nose. But that West Golf villa is her home, and I will not take her to my new place, where she may not know how to survive; and besides, I would have to leave her in a month anyway. I will not allow myself to get maudlin about her. I took care of her when she needed help, and in return she provided me with gentle companionship during my three-month stay in West Golf. But now, she must learn to either make it on her own, or find someone else to adopt. She is a beautiful cat, so I don’t think that will be much of a problem. I moved into the new place this morning. I left without waking her up from her morning snoozzie. I am glad she did not come to the car and watch me leave. She often did that when I took the bus to go to downtown Gouna, and would wait by the gate in the front garden for me to return. She was always still there when I did, even if I was away for hours. Goodbye you gentle little girl. I miss you already, and will never forget you; but I want you to forget all about me, because this time, I am not coming back.

Here are some initial pics of the new place. This is one fantastic villa. Check out the one with the Egyptian swallows. skimming my neighbor’s pool for a sip of water. Sandy would have been very interested in them.