Black Cats and Friday the 13th



Slick, the black cat with yellow eyes, on Friday the 13th

Another Friday the 13th and the issue of black cats. Well, I happen to love cats and think that black cats with yellow eyes are just plain cool. So I do not have a problem with the old "do not let a black cat cross your path" thing. I would be in a world of hurt, because a really gorgeous black cat with yellow eyes, by the name of Slick, lives right next door.

Now Slick has a very interesting story. As a small kitten he was rescued off a bridge in Key West by a tourist couple who decided to bring him back home to the Florida Panhandle. Slick lived in a nice quiet neighborhood and proceeded to make friends with everyone he met on his daily explorations. You see, Slick was allowed to roam the neighborhood and that's just what he did.

Well, some years back, about five years ago if I got the story right, Slick's family moved away and left him behind. That's when Slick adopted my next door neighbor, a really cool person who happens to love black cats. Slick is now an inside/outside cat in our cat-friendly neighborhood.

Now my dogs and I have been acquainted with Slick for the past three years, ever since we moved into the neighborhood, right next door. It's a daily thing for him to walk slowly across our front yard, he's on neighborhood watch, don't you know? He peeks in our front windows just to make sure all is well and to check up on my two dogs.

Shani, my ten year old, 85 pound Collie/Chow mix is not too keen on having Slick look in our windows. So the two have worked this out. From our living room, Shani ducks her head below the window sill and Slick looks inside. Then outside, Slick ducks his head below the sill and Shani looks out. It's pretty cute to watch. On the other hand, if Shani sees the cat out in our yard or, heaven forbid, across the street, then Shani has to bark at him. Still not sure if Shani is telling him, "Get back over here!" or "Go away!"

Dude, my year old, 106 pound, Retriever/Hound mix happens  to be "friends" with Slick. They've been practically nose to nose, Slick meows and Dude wags his tail, so I think that means they're friends. Dude never barks at Slick, though he does huff and puff when he see the cat across the street.

Now back to Friday the 13th. Supposedly bad luck can happen on this day. Personally, I haven't experienced any Friday the 13th bad luck that I can remember. "Knock on wood" that my luck continues along that path. I mean, I'm not expecting particularly good luck on this day, but I really don't need any back luck.


Slick crossing someone's path on Friday the 13th

One of my husband's sisters, he has five of them, used to pose for newspaper photos on Friday the 13th. She worked for the newspaper in our small California town and she was young and quite pretty. So she'd pose standing under a ladder on Friday the 13th. As far as I know, it never brought her any bad luck.

Some people make it a point of staying home on Friday the 13th. They're not taking any chances when that day comes around. As for me, I think I'll cut my losses and stay home today. Just sayin'...

By the way, I've heard that Slick is now 13 years old. So maybe today is his birthday? I imagine he'd like to celebrate it on Friday the 13th.