The wooden deck outside is frequented by the neighbourhood cats, and the French doors allow us to see them. Probably the cats visit our porch as well, and other houses’ decks and porches and verandas, but if there’s a closed door in between, nobody knows, and no contact occurs.

If a cat visits a deck and nobody sees it, did the visit even happen?

Here, though, we see the cats and the cats see us, and we let them in for a visit. This long-haired beauty is new to the neighbourhood, and very cautious, almost scared. S/he put one paw in through the gap, pulled it back, put it in again, watched, then cautiously entered. Wouldn’t move as long as there was a human within two metres. Fled when there was a slight noise from the kitchen.

S/he has a sibling as well: this one’s fur is a mixture of browns; the other one is very similar in both looks and behaviour but its fur is a mix of grays. And they wear identical GPS trackers around their necks.

Morris, meanwhile, is back to his stand-offish, churlish ways. He comes in; Nysse sees him and approaches with gentle happy chirps. Morris responds by batting at him with his paw. Nysse backs away and sits, looking longingly at his friend.