OUR ERSTWHILE WILD KITTEN Koda, who came to us out of the forest one freezing night last March, continues to delight, amaze and entertain us. Black as midnight, confident, curious, playful, he is, Kathy says, an ‘opportunist,’ which she says he learned by surviving in the woods. He is always alert for an opportunity and siezes it unapologetically. He loves cream. (Ice cream, whipped cream, milk, yogurt, whatever.) Today yours truly made French press coffee for a Sunday morning treat. I forgot and left the half-and-half out with the lid off. I was soon reading my phone, enjoying accounts of the Vikings’ big win yesterday. Kathy came into the kitchen and said my name with a touch of amusement and exasperation. She directed my attention to the kitchen counter, where Koda had tipped over the cream, spilling it into a microwave bacon draining pan, where he was contentedly lapping it up.

After letting him enjoy the fruits of his labor for a while, and not wanting an overdose, we eventually removed the dairy delight. Koda wandered off to the writing office, where he gazed out the window at the frozen world. He seemed happy, unbothered or chastened by pangs of conscience. He was soon begging to go back outdoors again, also unbothered by near-zero temps. He is, as I say, a confident cat. And a source of much entertainment.