Being thankful for a burglar

The kitten showed up in December of 2009, he would sit and peer in the window. He would come and go most of the winter, often uninterested in the food we offered. We assumed that he lived with one of the neighbors. When he didn’t show up for several days in a row, I hoped that his family had decided to keep him safely inside.

After 6 days he reappeared, barely able to stand. I drove to the vet with the crate in the passenger seat so I could keep one hand on him, while I cried and apologized for assuming he had a home.

Two rounds of antibiotics later, Ron Burgundy could sit up to eat and started venturing around the house. He chose my art studio as his favorite place to spend time. As his health improved his personality started to show itself and we became aware of a little problem.

Ron Burgundy is a cat burglar.

To date, he has stolen the following items:

1 paintbrush- he makes repeated efforts to steal this paintbrush, once even making it off the studio table and all the way down the stairs before I could catch him and retrieve it. I think I might put one in his Christmas stocking. If he is willing to work that hard for it I think he deserves one to call his very own.

1 magnet- bearing a photo of Maisy, my dog. I’m assuming his plan was to make the magnet into some sort of voodoo doll. Voodoo dog. Sorry.

1 recently purchased silver earring.

1 drink coaster… green, beaded and shaped like a frog- removed from the desk and relocated to the door mat by the back door.

1 bra- I am happy to report that nobody was wearing it at the time.

1 roll of toilet paper. He actually rolled it out of the downstairs bathroom and I watched it bounce off the cat door that leads to the litter box in a closet. Accidentally, I’m sure… but I appreciated the irony anyway.

This year I have many things to be thankful for... but I have to say that other than the obvious things... family, friends, health, a good job... the thing I'm most thankful for is Ron Burgundy, who makes me laugh every day of my life. Even if he is a cat burglar.