Who is Queen Goddess ‘Nado the Great?

When I moved to this area in 1994, I lived alone in an apartment that had little furniture and no television, although I was rarely there. As time progressed, I realized I could use some companionship. Initially, I purchased a hamster. He was cute and cuddily. After a while, I figured he would want a friend, so I purchased another hamster for a companion. That was a mistake. The new rodent attacked the old rodent’s willy and the first one died soon after. Britches, the new hamster, was a handful. He was very good at escaping from his miles of Habitrail. Considering he was a murderer, I was still lacking in the companionship area.

On 19 April 1995, I had scheduled to stop by a colleague’s house. She had indicated her cat had a litter of kittens and was trying to find homes for them. Before leaving for that appointment, I was at a student’s house, tutoring him during out Spring Break for he had been out for several weeks due to his illness. His mother had the television on in an adjoining room. We stopped our work when CNN reported that there had been a bombing in Oklahoma City. Amazing!

After a bit, I drove to check out the new kittens. There were three of them: two black and one gray. All kittens are cute, but I was reaching for the gray one for she was different. It was then that one of the little black kittens, named Diablo by my colleague, reached up and pawed me. Then she started scrambling about. She definitely had more personality than the others. My friend indicated this one was the trouble-maker, hence the name Diablo. I was sold!

She wouldn’t leave the car once I got home. I had to really coax her and about 45 minutes later, I was able to grab her from beneath the passenger’s seat. She cried the whole way into the apartment. Immediately she took refuge behind the computer. She stayed there for a considerable time. Eventually, she drifted out and I have a fond memory of this little cat (I estimated her birthday to be 1 March) sleeping on my stomach.

Diablo was not the correct name for her. While she was ornery, she was not devilish. She just got in the middle of everything. It didn’t take long before she was pronounced Queen Goddess (because she was so prissy) ‘Nado (short for tornado) the Great. ‘Nado, her nickname, was my constant companion. She had a web site long ago, typed a newsletter column, and was very much at the forefront of my life.

‘Nado does not like many people. She clawed my boss one day. She shredded my starched shirt the day I brought her in to meet my students, hissed at the nicest people, etc. She loves me, my wife, is getting used to the baby, and adores my mother.

My mother lives in Florida. Prior to meeting my wife, I used to travel down there each summer. The cat would accompany me. After an episode on the airplane (Spirit Air does not have consistent policies regarding animals), I drove each time. ‘Nado, being the wimp she is, slept on my lap the entire way each time. She is always near me and if I close a door, she scratches until I let her in. Living in an apartment, as I did at the time, ‘Nado never went outside. But in Florida, I would take her out to smell the flowers. One day, my mother was outside tending to her garden when ‘Nado and I were out there. I was ready to go inside, but my mother said she would keep an eye on the cat. She didn’t. The cat ran away. I searched for her and finally found her at the entrance to a patch of woods, at dusk, and rain coming down. She was scared and would not come to me. I would not follow her into the woods for fear gators, iguanas, and other things that go bump in the night. I was tormented.

The following morning, at about 5:00, my father called for me. I had gone to bed miserable and upset with my mother. But in the backyard, far away from where I had last seen the cat, was ‘Nado crying her heart out. She was soaked because it was downpouring out. I hugged her like I had never hugged her before. I expected she had been impregnated that night, but no litter ever came. ‘Nado stopped itching to get outside after that too.

I finally came through on my promise to buy a house with a yard so she could climb trees. ‘Nado has absolutely no interest whatsoever in going outside. Such is the life of the Queen Goddess.

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2 Responses to “Who is Queen Goddess ‘Nado the Great?”

  1. By Bob on Jul 4, 2005

    ‘Nado has not adjusted as well to the baby, I suspect, as we had hoped. She has taken to soiling the basement floor on several ocassions. Given this defiance, we made a difficult decision: ‘Nado is now enjoying the outdoor life.

    At first, it was quite difficult for all us. But now, ‘Nado is accustomed to living outside. We permit her to come in and hang with us from time to time, but even she is eager to return to her kingdom after a while.

    And she is losing weight, which is a really good thing!

  2. By Bob on Nov 19, 2005

    As it is getting colder, ‘Nado is inside more and more. She goes out every day for she no longer has a litter box. But we brought her food back in after it began attracting an opoosum. Where did he come from? And just last night, it was like old times. ‘Nado jumped up to the lounger (she hadn’t jumped that high in a long time) and stood on the laptop as she demanded attention. She soon settled onto the arm of the chair. Later, she found my stomach. Ah, the little feline was asleep atop me again.

    Happy days!

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