Hemi

Hemi and Me

Have you ever heard of polydactyl cats, commonly called Hemingway cats? Nicknames for these kitties also include mitten kittens.  What makes these kitties so unique? They have extra toes!

Polydactyl cats were thought to be more superior climbers and mousers than ordinary cats thanks to their extra toes. Some sailors even thought the kitties were good luck!

One ship captain actually gave a polydactyl kitty to the famous American author, Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway kept the all-white cat, named Snow White. Today, the Hemingway House in Key West is the Hemingway Home and Museum. Almost 50 cats happily roam the property — all descendants of Snow White. Roughly half of them have extra toes which are why these felines are now commonly referred to as Hemingway cats.

Becky and Jim have a polydactyl cat that travels with them.  His name is . . . say it with me . . . Hemi.  Hemi is a private cat.  Sticks to Jim like glue, but runs and hides when Richard or I enter the Morris’ RV.  Of course, I know my loud mouth does nothing to keep Hemi’s nerves in check.  Anyway, I quickly came to the conclusion that the sweet kitty cat doesn’t care for me at all.  But, he is a beautiful cat.

                                                             

Hemi Morris

At some point along the trail of our extended trip, I went to visit with Becky in her RV.  When it was time to leave, I made the first two steps down, looped my hand through the handle on the outside of the motor home, then made a 9.6 pirouette off the steps, twisted around and slammed face first into the side of the huge motor home. 

Yes, that is me slamming into the
side of the RV.  Please note Hemi in the steps.

The force of the slam separated me from the handle and crashed me onto my back on the ground. 

When I dared to open my weary eyes, I was staring into three familiar faces.  Richard’s, Becky’s and Jim’s.  A man near the gas pumps inquired as to whether or not we needed him to call 9-1-1. It was decided (3-1) I was going to live, so we flagged off the 9-1-1 fellow.

Later when I looked through the surveillance tape to see if any footage of my sailing out the RV door could possibly be used to win money on America's Funniest Home Videos, I noticed a cat disappearing into the motor home via the steps.

As my three rescuers started to help me up, I looked passed Jim to the motor home window right above his head and this is what I saw:

.                                                           

                                                  Hemi and Jim

One evening, the four of us where going to a friend’s house for dinner.  Minutes before we had to leave, Hemi disappeared. Jim and Becky had already searched every inch of the RV with no luck.  We all searched the edge of the woods surrounding the acres where we were camping.  We hated to force Jim to leave without knowing where Hemi was, but we didn’t know what else to do.

We had a nice evening with good food and socializing.  I did notice Jim seemed a little edgy. He kept glancing at his phone.  I wondered if he thought Hemi might text him when he returned from his evening stroll in the woods.  I wondered if Hemi was having a grand time chasing mice or a fluffy, “puddy tat” or perhaps both.

When we returned home, Becky and Jim discovered their polydactyl cat sitting in the middle of the motor home floor counting his toes. Becky took the picture below and texted it to me which you can tell may not have been a good thing since I am posting it on FB.

                                                           

Jim and Hemi

As you can tell, he certainly was a happy boy and so was Hemi.

Until later,

Dolores

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