The Old Man is Gone

What can I say about Art? 

He was one of the more unusual cats I've met, and I suppose I was his human. That's the way it is with cats you don't adopt them, they adopt you. He looked a lot like a Maine Coon cat, his long fur making him appear bigger than he was.


When I met Lady D in 2001, she had Art, and Alf, at that time he was a bit more than physco, just walking into the same room with him would freak him out. He moved here in 2002 and within a couple of months not only did he settle in, but he settled down,  It seemed that the quiet of the country agreed with him more that the city he had moved from.


By 2003 he had matured, and he took on the roll of guardian, whenever one of the dogs got a bit pushy, he would come flying from where ever he was at the time, he would always place himself in harms way to protect. His hair fluffed out his back arched giving the appearance of a cat much larger than he was. One night he backed the Doberman all the way in the fireplace which did have a fire going, and the dog gave ground until her butt started burning, then she only wanted to escape. In 06 the Rotti went after one of the cats, and Art leaped up and wrapped himself around her head like a coon skin cap, till she gave ground. It was a sight watching the dog trying to shake loose that bundle of fur with an attitude.


He would do the same when the other cats had disagreements, putting himself between the aggressor, and the victim, until things calmed down, He just seemed to prefer harmony over chaos.


In 2005 he began following us down to the range and would hang out with us while we were shooting, and what I mean by hangout he would sit on the shooting bench, by 2006  he would go with the classes when they were shooting, only the Instructor classes, not the beginner or CCW classes, somehow he knew the difference.
He would get up on the backstop and walk around right behind the target rack, or be weaving his way the length of the benches. Or perhaps just off to the side, a hot casing bouncing off of him from time to time, which he would just ignore.
 
By 2007 he wasn't as involved with the range, but gunfire still didn't bother him, in 2008 when we built the new training building, he resented it, but made it a point to come out and intermingle with students during breaks

He was a gentleman, except when it came to spaghetti,  then a bit more than demanding, but all in all he was the quiet little lord of his domain.

He will be missed and remembered