All he gets is that south-end view

Arlo's lucky. All he gets is that south-end view. :D

We live in an area where people (loosely defined) decide, "this is far enough out of town to dump our unwanted pet." If they survive the road, most seem to find their way to us. Currently, we feed nine cats and two dogs, out of dozens adopted over the years, almost all dumpees.

There's a black feral male cat ("Max") who, since the -28F day last winter, has showed up for morning & evening feedings most days. Several weeks back, Max showed up with a small yellow male companion, "Charlie." Full name "Charles R. Underfoot," and the "R" stands for "Rascal," due to overturned trash cans and such. Can't decide whether Max was bringing the poor kitten to us out of kindness ("Hey, kid, I know some folks who will take care of you") or trying to figure out how to scrape off his little friend ("Hey, kid, I run solo"). Anyway, Charlie moved right inside with us like he'd always been here. (We have a strict rule on the few inside cats — they must respect the litter box.) Charlie's the most playful, friendly, amazing kitty we've ever had! Gotta wonder at the folks who would "lose" such a great animal!

Short story long, as usual; sorry. Charlie quickly figured out my 5:45am alarm, and is respectful of my need for Z's until the moment the alarm goes off, then he's on the bed, chewing my fingers or hair or my toes (through the covers) until I get up and feed the crowd. Mrs Webworker gets to sleep a bit later, sometimes. I don't.