One day while talking to my daughter-in-law Jaime, I idly mentioned that I'd been thinking about getting a cat. "An outside cat," I said. "A barn cat that won't want to come inside or be on my lap. I want a cat that will take care of mice and generally be useful, not just ornamental."

Jaime is a cat person. She has an innate ability to understand what they want, when and why. I just like to pet the occasional cat and marvel at the patience of cat owners who cater to tubby house pets that seem to be the real homeowners-the human are just tenants who pay homage to the cats.

One day I got a call from Jaime. "I got you a cat," she said. "But it's feral."

"Perfect!" I replied. "Just what I want."

The cat arrived, a little male tabby kitten. Jaime opened the crate and he lit out for the woods. We didn't see him for two weeks. Then, we realized he was coming in at night for food. Gradually he stayed around more and more. He became friends with the dogs.

As he grew, he took to lying under our chairs in the evenings to watch the fire in the firepit, or sidling up to the porch to take treats Larry left out for him. We still could not touch him, but his eyes looked friendlier, with the beginnings of trust. We were slowly working on getting him closer so we could touch him (and eventually catch him so he could be fixed).

After all, I found, I did want a cat to pet!

On Easter Sunday the cat did not come home. We called and searched but he did not return ,and after two weeks we gave up. Maybe he'd found a new home. Then while Larry was hunting mushrooms he found the terrible truth--the cat's body was hidden in the woods near a large rock; something wilder and bigger had taken his life. I can't tell you how heartbroken we were.

We miss our cat, but in the forest that surrounds our farm there are many dangers for small animals. We'll need to just be satisfied with petting the cats of our friends and remembering our wild boy who lived life on his own terms, and met death the same way.

* * *

Cats abound in folklore and sayings. Here are some you may recognize:

* Honest as the cat when the meat's out of reach.

* A cat's eyes are windows enabling us to see into another world.

* Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers will have no lack.

* A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.

* To please himself only the cat purrs.

* Dogs believe they are human. Cats believe they are God.

* No matter how much cats fight, there always are plenty of kittens.

* You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats.

* It's better to feed one cat than many mice.

* Even a cat is a lion in her own lair.

* In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.