Wednesday, April 11, 2018 11:13 PM

As I shave, a kitten walks down the stone steps to my basement apartment window and stares. People seem to view cats here as casually sacred, leaving them offerings of food and fresh water. At night, I hear them howl and play. In the morning, I see as many as seven in my yard (though I may count some who run in circles around me twice). When I sit on a low wall to write, cats walk up to me and nudge me. Sensing that I have no food for them but present no danger, they curl up by my side to sleep in the shade or in the sun.