Today the theme for Photohunter is “Electric.”
If you look this word up, you get the expected definitions regarding electricity usage. But in my Webster’s dictionary, the third definition is, “Emotionally exciting, thrilling.”
It was in this sense that I ‘caught’ this theme, as I remembered a series of photos I took on a drizzly night when Ruby decided to break up a big cat-argument that was going out by the garden. Mike had been having words with a ratty grey stray tom cat, and was not the least bit pleased to have his descriptions of the other cat’s antecedents disturbed.
I caught the scene after Ruby had thoroughly chased off the grey cat, and Mike was still full of adrenaline, safe atop the pile of concrete block we were using to make the raised beds in the garden. It was a completely dark night, and the flash lit up all the droplets on Mike’s coat. To me this is the epitome of an emotionally exciting moment. I’m sure it must have been thrilling for Ruby to look up into this face:
He is glaring at Ruby, who is Innocence personified. “What? Who, me?” she seems to be saying. 
I find it interesting that at the moment of this interaction, Mike has no gratitude for having his bacon saved by the dog, who probably kept him from getting himself all torn up yet again. At this phase in his life, Mike had not achieved the warrior status he had in the years before he died. He inevitably came away from any physical encounters with other cats with a bite on his right forearm. Mike always led with his right, and he did not have a lightning fast jab. The bites always formed abscesses, which involved trips to the vet and antibiotics.
Later on, both Mike and Smokey came to view Ruby as a very useful minion in the battle to defend their territory from the stray cats that wander through. She was sent out as the Advance Guard, and once she had patrolled the area, they could go and pee on their bushes without being disturbed by other felines.
Be sure to visit the other Photohunters. It’s always fun to see what people come up with for this meme.
the havens 