It happened at 3 p.m. on a Friday. It was one of those days that was beautiful and just slightly breezy. You know, the kind that makes you happy to be alive. After all, you never forget the first day that you pet 2 street cats at the same time.
I was on my way home from the bodega when it crossed my path in a flash of orange. I’d know that silhouette anywhere. I stopped dead in my tracks. I’d been down that street every day since I moved in a year ago. How could I not have known?
At first I crouched down and pulled out a chip from my snack haul. The cat was under a car looking at me. He was considering it, I could feel it. We exchanged slow blinks in a sacred dance of the ages. I wanted him to feel not just comfortable but soothed.
I could tell I was in immediately. By then I was cross-legged on the sidewalk. I put my hand out. He skipped the sniff stage and went straight in for the pet. I was a cheek in when I heard it…it was faint at first but gaining volume. A bell.
I looked up and there it was, bounding towards me, collar jingling in the wind. A SECOND cat. My hand in between the ears of the first, I reached my palm out towards the second, the sun shining onto my fingertips. It met a nose, then a chest. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.
People walked by on their way to lunch or to spend time with their loved ones. Couldn’t they see?? This moment was magic. This moment was the stuff of mythos. I was the Ratatouille of street cats. I could feel my body levitating. The cats and I were one.
It may sound crazy, but I do believe I achieved ego death that day. As Athena rose from Zeus’ head, my own spirit guides came to me in that moment. They revealed to me the interconnectedness of everything. And when I close my eyes they’re still with me, jingling away.