Stephenson Tales

When we would come to Interlochen after a school year back in the real world, Mama Kitty would always lie across my lap as I drove. Then, about the time we got to Cadillac and near Mesick she would begin to get restless, and by the time we got to Karlin, she was standing on the seat behind me looking out the window. By the time we neared the turn down the "dump road" which was the last leg of our journey to Lake Avenue, she was practically giddy with excitement, running back and forth across the back of the front seat (no bucket seats, then) in anticipation. She was always the first one out of the car.

She loved to go out in the boat and ride on our tours around Duck Lake. There is nothing so remarkable in that - but what is unusual for a cat is the fact that when we came to the end of our boat ride, as we would near the dock, she would suddenly leap off into the lake and swim unerringly in to our shore. Incredible as it may seem, she often chose actually to swim with the kids as they played volleyball or cavorted on their truck-sized inner tubes near the end of the dock. I have never known any other cat to enjoy the lake as a passenger on it or as a swimmer IN it!

Composed 13 November 2008; Transcribed by Lucky

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