i like to think of my cats as pacifists. sure, they will “hunt” some inanimate object, or infringe on the civil liberties of a wary insect when it suits their fancy. but i never imagined they would be involved in any sort of long-standing rivalry or grudge; in fact, a cold-war of sorts.

when we moved to the country, we were excited to have 1/2 acre of woods behind the house, and a deck with a glass sliding door. while this would not only provide us with a place for leisure activities, the slider would be a perfect vantage point for the cats to be entertained by the fauna outdoors (without actually going outdoors themselves). we even make it imperative to continuously refill a well-placed bird feeder (attached to the railing of said deck), in hopes to draw return visits from the aforementioned fauna.

lately however, a troubling trend has emerged. while the activities outside the sliding door have proven interesting to all the cats, one in particular, kelly, has frankly become obsessed. his personal mission is to stand sentry and observe everything that takes place out on the deck. he is steadfast.

but who is the target of his unwavering attention? the blue jays? the mourning doves? the chickadees? nay. when i said we predicted that they would be interested in the fauna, we were close. but we had no idea that kelly would be more intrigued by the flora. i present to you, ladies and gentlemen, kelly’s arch-nemesis:

kelly watches leaves all day. and sometimes, all night. when they move, he moves. when they jump, he jumps. when they crinkle, i’m not sure what he does but he does something.

as much as i don’t want to see autumn end, i fear that kelly may have a nervous breakdown before all the leaves blow away.