The cat has been the one constant in her life...he lives in the house the biggest share of his time so he is what Kimi refers to as "fair game". The other night out in the back yard he made that 'fair game'; more interesting when he came into HER territory and did so with a typical cat attitude. You all know the one....like they don't notice you or anyone else, and with their tail held high in the air as if to say. "I am the God of all creatures...you must bow to me!" Kimi decided that was NOT going to go over well in HER queendom.

Kimi spotted this large grey cat from across the yard and made a 'beeline' for him. Now...having always seen bee's fly in a less than straight line I could never understand what this meant until I saw her hit him with a deadly aim! Talk about "sting like a bee!" Her tiny little body managed to bowl him over like bowling pins knocked for a loop. The cat, from here on in is known as Garfield, because...well because that's his name! Anyway, Garfield leaped to his feet and ran for cover. It just so happens the cover he ran for was in MY flower bed by our back gate! Hiding out amoungst the spent daffodils this cat lay in wait. He had decided revenge was indeed going to be sweet! Kimi began to run in circles all around the yard looking for him. She had laid out her own search grid like a seasoned professional and was not about to let this cat escape without convincing him it was time to give up this better-than-dog attitude and play with her! She ran in circles to the left, and back around to the right. Kimi circled the flower bed, and she circled the tree. And all the while she ran, she was yipping and yapping. Calling to Garfield...."oly oly oxen free"!! Or maybe it was.."Come out, come out where you are!!!!" she ran back and forth, up and down, thru the grassy yard she went as fast as those little sawed off legs could go. Expecting her to tire any second, she surprised us all with her determined endurance. Anything in the name of fun!

Kimi may have been running around acting like she didn't know where Garfiled lay hidden but that was obvioulsy part of this game if hide-and-seek, because after passing by his hiding spot in the flower bed a couple of times, Kimi managed to grab the end of his tail on her way past him the next time!

"YIP" Kimi says...."you're it!" And with that she ran out across the yard again. This time with the cat in hot pursuit! He was "It" and he was going to get her for it!! Garfield made like any proud cat on halloween, with his back arched high and his tail all poofed out he sidled across the yard on tippy toes. Kimi sat on the opposite side of the yard obviously enthralled with the way this cat could move, and after observing Garfield for a few minutes, she tried it herself!

Sheltie puppies are NOT cut out to be cats though, as Kimi quickly found out. She managed to get up on a couple of her toes, then while trying to arch her back, she got her back leg tied around her front leg and over she went! Tail over appetite again!! Either she is going through that clumsy puppy stage, or she loves to summersault! Leaping to her feet with a big grin on her face off she raced after the cat! One thing about Kimi...she does know how to take a fall, AND to laugh at herself! Something we could all learn to do more of.

Garfield must have decided this was fun after all and as long as no other cats could see him playing with a PUPPY, he was 'game' for it. As Kimi raced past him he reached out a big grey paw and gave her a "whack" on her tail, then he began to chase her! Well, when Kimi realized she was the one being chased, she turned tail and gave chase on HIM! Being a good sport about it all Garfield turned and raced away from her...being careful not to go to fast. After all he is bigger than Kimi is by two fold or more! Now I am sure you have all seen a dog chasing a cat before, but I ask you ...have you ever seen a pint sized puppy giving chase to a cat bigger than some small dogs? And certainly bigger than Kimi?? Kimi was having the time of her life with this game of "catch-me- if-you-can" and by the look on the cats face, he was having fun too. It isn't to often you can see a cat smile, but that night Garfiled was definitely one happy cat!

Snickers, the neighbors St. Bernard came running around to the front corner of their place barking furiously once and scared Kimi off. Well...if you were HER size you would be scared off by something that could sound that big too! You can't blame her, she's just a baby still and a tiny one at that. Kimi went tearing through the yard straight for the front door, and once Garfield realized what was happening her went running after her. Now, I thought the cat was going to play dirty and run up to whack her while she was running off scared. Imagine my surprise when the cat ran up to Kimi, stretched his nose out to hers and with a sniff, gave her a rather reassuring pat on the head with a soft paw! Then he turned and ran back to the back yard again! I am sure in kitty talk he did his best to tell Kimi it was alright, that the big mean doggie couldn't reach her thru the fence! Kimi must have understood and known it was okay to go back and play because with a happy little "YIP"! she ran after him.

The kitty changed tactics on her and confused poor Kimi to no end though. We have a log in our back yard that has flowers growing out of it and it is right next to our wooden fence. Garfield had jumped behind that and was hiding from her again! I had to laugh when I looked over there and all I could see were the flattened back tops of the cats ears and his coal black shiney eyes peering over the top of this log thru the plants! He was definitely looking for Kimi, and Kimi, running all over the yard was sure looking for him too!

Once Kimi had given up the active search and decided to sit down for a minute and think things over, the cat leaped from behind this log and raced over to the flower bed again. Jumping in and surrounded by the daffodils, he laid low waiting for her to find him. Kimi's delicate little nose went up into the air, and she began to sniff. Checking the softly blowing evening breeze for the smell of this cat, she was soon on his tail...uh...trail again. It didn't take our little scent hound long to spot him and she did her best "bird-dog" immitation by flushing him out of his hiding spot. Garfield was a bit slow to leap from within her grasp, and this time she almost had a mouth full of fur. Her nipping came a little to close for comfort for Garfield, so he did like any self respecting cat would do in this situation and leaped high into the air...straight up! Kimi loved this move, and she did her best to be the 'copy- cat'. However she proved that puppies are NOT as graceful as they think and after executing a perfect leap, she blew it all by landing in a topsy-turvey lump of fur once on the ground again.

Before long...and much to soon for those watching this delightful game being played out, Kimi tired and the cat grew bored. Kimi lay the in the sweet smelling grass and lazily watched a bug flutter around her while the cat...disdainful of all canines once again, walked off much the way he had walked into this picture. With his nose in the air and tail held high, off he marched, convinced of his own superiority.

Kimi didn't care, she had proved all she had set out to do. That once you set aside any notions of 'racism' it doesn't matter who wins the race, as long as you all have fun doing it together!

Kristi (good girl Kimi!) Kimi (I don't care who they are or what they look like...as long as they play with me!)