Cats Are Watching
Until recently we have always had a cat
in the house. Our last friend was fifteen when he died last year. Grayfax came
to live with us when Benjamin died after living with us for sixteen years.
Grayfax had only been outside of our home twice in all those years so we all got
to know each other very
well.
One of the things that we have learned about cats is that they can be the darndest things to find when they don't want to be found! Being independent spirits they are quite often most content in the place they are and feel no responsibility to let you know where they are when you call them. Who knows how many times we have covered the rooms from one end of the house to the other and not been able to discover Grayfax or Benjamin. With one more sweep of the house we would suddenly see those penetrating eyes watching us. They were there all the time, we just hadn't picked up on them.
We got to joking about this one time when we realized that although we couldn't see the cat, the cat was always watching us in our fruitless searching.
The high school classroom in which I taught was composed of a studio area and a computer lab. They could be used as one room or two classes could be taught at the same time. Often while students were busy working on their individual projects I would work in the lab with one or two students at the computers. We had designed this teaching area with a large window in the separating wall so that I could literally be in two places at one time.
One day while working with a student at a computer I observed a student in the studio throw a piece of paper across the room at another boy. I excused myself from the computer student and walked into the studio and across the room to the boy who had misbehaved. I leaned over to him and whispered, "Do you see that opening in the wall at the end of the room? It is filled with a material that is transparent. That means that I am able to see through it" He smiled and I went back to the lab.
I had learned through many years of working with young people a lesson taught in Proverbs 15:1-- A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. I could have stepped to the studio door and raised my voice and admonished him for his improper behavior, but I had found that the softly spoken word was much more effective.
During the last two years that I was head track and field coach my two assistant coaches were both former students of mine. I had taught one of them for ten of the thirteen years he attended the Osceola Public Schools. Those seasons were the highlight of my ten years of coaching. It was a real privilege to work with those young men. The three of us would occasionally take the team out on the road for some distance and hill repeats. As it happened we had an ideal short road for this workout upon which both of my assistant coached lived.
Prior to going out I would explain that at the end of each road was a sign that alerted drivers that there were runners on the road. I also explained how they should perform the repeat drills. I closed the explanation one time with the story that if they misbehaved that we would know it because cats were always watching.
The practice session went well and to our knowledge nothing out of the way occurred. The next morning when I arrived at school and was crossing the commons one of my assistants who lived at the west end of the practice road stopped me. He said that several of the team members had not followed my instructions at the turn around. His wife was at home and and seen from their living room window what the kids had done.
At practice that evening I called out the names of the offenders and said, "Remember what I said yesterday? Cats are always watching." Later out on the track one of the boys came to me and said, "How did you know what we did? There wasn't anyone around to see us." I replied. "Cats are always watching. You never know where they are."
One while substituting for an adult education class one of my students spoke out and said, "Look at that man over on the parking lot. He got himself a turkey!" Sure enough the man across the street had the turkey in the back of his truck. I realized that he was arranging the bird for some "display" purpose. He would turn it one way, then another. He spread its wings out and arranged it tail. Then he would lift it by the legs and stand to the left of it, then to the right.
He kept looking at it and then reached into the truck bed and took an article of clothing and wadded it up, placing it beneath the turkey body increasing the appearance of its size. Again he posed with a broad smile, holding the turkey up by the legs. With the smile on his face he suddenly remembered he had on his glasses and quickly removed them placing them beneath the turkey.
The man assumed he was all alone. I'm reminded of the words of E. M. Forster in his novel Where Angels Fear to Tread. "For it is a serious thing to have been watched. We all radiate something curiously intimate when we believe ourselves to be alone."
I have come to accept that no matter where I am and no matter what the hour and no matter how empty the space may seem, there is undoubtedly someone watching. it is a good thing to remember,
Cats are always watching!
One of the things that we have learned about cats is that they can be the darndest things to find when they don't want to be found! Being independent spirits they are quite often most content in the place they are and feel no responsibility to let you know where they are when you call them. Who knows how many times we have covered the rooms from one end of the house to the other and not been able to discover Grayfax or Benjamin. With one more sweep of the house we would suddenly see those penetrating eyes watching us. They were there all the time, we just hadn't picked up on them.
We got to joking about this one time when we realized that although we couldn't see the cat, the cat was always watching us in our fruitless searching.
The high school classroom in which I taught was composed of a studio area and a computer lab. They could be used as one room or two classes could be taught at the same time. Often while students were busy working on their individual projects I would work in the lab with one or two students at the computers. We had designed this teaching area with a large window in the separating wall so that I could literally be in two places at one time.
One day while working with a student at a computer I observed a student in the studio throw a piece of paper across the room at another boy. I excused myself from the computer student and walked into the studio and across the room to the boy who had misbehaved. I leaned over to him and whispered, "Do you see that opening in the wall at the end of the room? It is filled with a material that is transparent. That means that I am able to see through it" He smiled and I went back to the lab.
I had learned through many years of working with young people a lesson taught in Proverbs 15:1-- A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. I could have stepped to the studio door and raised my voice and admonished him for his improper behavior, but I had found that the softly spoken word was much more effective.
During the last two years that I was head track and field coach my two assistant coaches were both former students of mine. I had taught one of them for ten of the thirteen years he attended the Osceola Public Schools. Those seasons were the highlight of my ten years of coaching. It was a real privilege to work with those young men. The three of us would occasionally take the team out on the road for some distance and hill repeats. As it happened we had an ideal short road for this workout upon which both of my assistant coached lived.
Prior to going out I would explain that at the end of each road was a sign that alerted drivers that there were runners on the road. I also explained how they should perform the repeat drills. I closed the explanation one time with the story that if they misbehaved that we would know it because cats were always watching.
The practice session went well and to our knowledge nothing out of the way occurred. The next morning when I arrived at school and was crossing the commons one of my assistants who lived at the west end of the practice road stopped me. He said that several of the team members had not followed my instructions at the turn around. His wife was at home and and seen from their living room window what the kids had done.
At practice that evening I called out the names of the offenders and said, "Remember what I said yesterday? Cats are always watching." Later out on the track one of the boys came to me and said, "How did you know what we did? There wasn't anyone around to see us." I replied. "Cats are always watching. You never know where they are."
One while substituting for an adult education class one of my students spoke out and said, "Look at that man over on the parking lot. He got himself a turkey!" Sure enough the man across the street had the turkey in the back of his truck. I realized that he was arranging the bird for some "display" purpose. He would turn it one way, then another. He spread its wings out and arranged it tail. Then he would lift it by the legs and stand to the left of it, then to the right.
He kept looking at it and then reached into the truck bed and took an article of clothing and wadded it up, placing it beneath the turkey body increasing the appearance of its size. Again he posed with a broad smile, holding the turkey up by the legs. With the smile on his face he suddenly remembered he had on his glasses and quickly removed them placing them beneath the turkey.
The man assumed he was all alone. I'm reminded of the words of E. M. Forster in his novel Where Angels Fear to Tread. "For it is a serious thing to have been watched. We all radiate something curiously intimate when we believe ourselves to be alone."
I have come to accept that no matter where I am and no matter what the hour and no matter how empty the space may seem, there is undoubtedly someone watching. it is a good thing to remember,
Cats are always watching!
(written September, 2001)
Posted: Fri - January 13, 2006 at 12:56 PM
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In a museum most people spend less than twenty seconds looking at a work of art."
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Published On: Jan 13, 2006 12:57 PM
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Published On: Jan 13, 2006 12:57 PM