Apifera Farm - where art, story, animals & woman merge. Home to artist Katherine Dunn

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©Katherine Dunn.





Saturday, August 20, 2011

Itty Bitty is Etta



It is time I must explain to my readers that Itty Bitty Etta is really two cats.

When I came upon the 1# kitten on a rural highway, wet, cold and a lump of fuzz, I had no idea that I was binging home two cats. Thankfully we gave her a long name which has come in handy with a cat that is really two.

Inside the confines of the house, she awakens as Itty Bitty, a mild, mischievous monkey faced imp who likes to irritate Muddy's tail. Itty Bitty is still a teeny 5# but has a big tail like a raccoon that might weigh 3#. She sleeps between the farmers often under the covers, allowing Big Tony to sleep on my pillow [I of course am sqwooshed down with my feet sticking out at the end of the bed to allow this arrangement].

But when she leaves the trappings of the house behind her, Itty Bitty instantly transforms into Etta, Big Etta. Big Etta can climb trees and touch the sky, she hunts tigers and maintains dominance of the lion pride on the front porch. She fears not even Mama Lion Kitty and scares her off the porch each day. She brings her kill back and displays it like a serial killer - weasels, mice, birds and snakes.
We saw her hunting elephant just last week. She fears no beast.

Out back, behind my studio, she has her own forest that I have pruned back so she can navigate without stick irritation. She naps there in dirt holes all the while making mental notes of exotic bird sightings. She might still look like Itty Bitty, but rest assured, she is Big Etta in her heart. Bow to her!