Well, I let the cat out of the bag in last week’s post, so here’s the rest of the story. While I was in San Francisco over MLK weekend, I received a text from a friend in the DC area. She had just returned from a work trip and saw a stray cat hanging outside her condo building. A passing neighbor said the cat had been there for a few days and no one knew who owned it. While the cat had long hair, it was no match for DC in January, so my friend took this very friendly and cold cat inside. However, my friend couldn’t keep the cat long term, so I said we’d taken it in contacted Elliott to see what he thought. So, the next day, The Cat arrived at our house.

And promptly disappeared. I was still in California and unable to help, but Elliott sent regular updates about double checking the status of doors and windows (all closed) and our downstairs neighbor’s dog (away for the weekend). Eventually, he found two creepily glowing eyes underneath a desk in the back corner of the basement. Well played, Cat. However, the cat quickly became more social and even rushed over to meet me when I arrived home on Monday. Good kitty.

We still don’t know the age or gender of the cat, how it wound up in a Northern Virginia condo complex (maybe it took the Silver Line?), and if, like all cats, it is secretly plotting to kill us in the night. But we do know a few things:

• It likes boxes

• It likes birds

• It likes snow…

• …but only at a distance

• It is very curious…

• …and this curiosity may cause some problems

• Also it likes to jump onto the bed and land on my face in the middle of the night

And why the name “Moose”? At first, I was reluctant to name the cat at all, since we are still looking for its real owners. (Then I suggested “OJ” as a nod to his earnest quest, but that got nixed.) But calling it “The Cat” got awkward. So I tried a bunch of names to see if the cat would come when called. Rookie mistake. Thanks to google and twitter, I am pretty confident this cat is a Maine Coon (“the dog of cats”). So then what’s Maine-related? Stephen King? Hmmm not gender neutral. Also creepy. Portland? Augusta? Crazy governor who jokes about guillotines? No thanks. Well, the cat is getting larger by the day, has enormous feet, is incredibly awkward on slippery hardwood floors, and has an M pattern on its forehead. MOOSE! Plus, moose (meese?) live in Maine and are a favorite animal of this Alaska native.

So there you go. Welcome (perhaps temporarily), Moose!