Noah's Ark

Of course every ark must have a Noah and ours is no exception! Although our Noah is quite a bit younger than the original he still seems to attract


animals. He started with bugs as a youngest, then graduated to frogs, salamanders, and newts. He talked me into a bunny that was being given away for "free" at his day camp one summer. He slept with our cat until his eyes swelled so badly and his throat began to close that he had to give that up. Our dog Zorro slept in his room for years without ever bothering Noah even though the old dog stunk to no end. One time Noah found a young crow that was having trouble flying and insisted that it would be cruel to let it go considering it might be eaten by a cat or something. He was fully prepared to raise it like a son. The only way I could convince him it would actually be harmful to the wild bird to keep it in captivity was to call the Audubon Society and have them explain that this bird was actually called a fledgling and needed to hop around a bit for a few days so that it could learn to fly. He tries to feed the backyard squirrels by hand when he is outside weeding and mowing(which by the way he actually enjoys and does it beautifully). After our first Newfoundland died we recently got a new one, a bouncing, huge puppy we named Nana. Within the first day I gave up any hope of bonding very much with the fluffy black fur ball because Noah claimed the dog as "his baby"!

This brings me to what happened this week. I was sewing in the kitchen when Noah came home for his lunch break(he just got his first job as a courtesy clerk at our local Thriftway Store). I glanced up and what do you think was clinging to his green Thriftway uniform shirt????? A small black and white kitten he had found it in the bottle room in a box and just had to save it. No asking permission, nooooo, he just carried it home like.....well, like Noah saving one more on his ark! I knew I didn't want another cat! We still have Barkley(you know the one that makes Noah's eyes swell and his throat close when he gets too close). But several days have past and "Mittens"(a name personally selected by Noah) is still here. Permission was granted by Dad when Noah and his entourage of siblings promised to feed, scoop, and pay for shots. Oh well, I guess I can't be too upset. I see in Noah what I want him always to keep. A heart for the lost and an ark to keep them safe in!!!