Memorial to Edgar ~ A Cat with A Thousand Lives ~ Blog No. 12 ~ Gary Wolfstone, Seattle Trial Lawyer ~

WELCOME TO GARY WOLFSTONE'S BLOG 12 ~ I raise my coffee cup at Le Panier to toast Edgar ... A Cat with a Thousand Lives!

Edgar was a trespasser when he started feeding at Jenna and Merlin's apartment in Greenwood. Soon enough he was adopted by the Hay family and moved with them to Georgetown where Edgar was persecuted by a criminal Tom Cat. That problem was solved with electronic doors and collars, and soon enough, Edgar was in business again. Recently, while living in North Seattle, he became unruly and was dispatched to the Happy Hunting Ground where he will roam pain free forever. Indeed, Edgar has been promoted to King of the Jungle ~ a fully endowed five star Cat Lion in the Happy Hunting Ground!

Our pets become members of our family, and when they pass away, we have life-long memories of their exploits. Now Edgar will make friends with Macavity The Cat, the hero of T.S. Eliot's Book of Cats. And in memory of Edgar and in honor of his feline courage, I set forth his photo and the T.S. Eliot poem, "The Naming of Cats" [slightly modified for Edgar]

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or Edgar,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey -
All of them sensible everyday names.

There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter, or Sir Edgar -
But all of them sensible everyday names.

But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?

Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, Jellylorum or Edgar The Lion Hearted!-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.

But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover -
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

- T.S. Eliot
(from "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats"),

Gary L. WolfstoneA Forward Scout in the Wilderness of the Legal Profession

Gary L. Wolfstone
A Forward Scout in the Wilderness of the Legal Profession