The Photobomb on the Farm

T. Tommy’s Photobomb

            I’m not one for taking selfies. Taking photographs is another matter. Beginning with Dad, each summer I snapped photos of his garden in various stages. His flowers were my favorite subjects.

Dad planted marigolds for pest control. His mother, Mamie Irene Tripp Gates, planted zinnias. Dad said he planted them for color. Several years, Dad planted sunflowers to provide bird food for the sparce months of winter.

Regretfully, even though I plant flowers, I never produce the show-stopping spectacle like Dad had. Finally, this year, my late planted zinnias began to bloom. I told myself as I watered the tomato plants, Go ahead and shoot a photo or two of the little zinnias.

I framed one of the brightly colored zinnias in my camera’s viewfinder. Just as I had composed a good shot of the selected zinnia, suddenly a huge cat face entered my picture. My finger was already poised and in motion for the photo. T. Tommy, the abandoned tom cat, photobombed my zinnia shot!   

T. Tommy, a name given by my sister to him, was dropped off in front of Mother’s farm house. The first morning I spotted him brought unbelief to me. This enormous cat could not be in our yard. No one would do this to us. We had all the cats we wanted or needed.

 I carried the heavy cat out of the yard, but he determined to come back into the fenced-in yard. Upon reentering, he raced to the feeding area and scattered our “tiny” farm cats in thirty different directions at once.

Finally, I took a small amount of food outside the yard, near the road. He devoured it ravenously. Even though I tried this day after day, the enormous tom cat decided he liked living on Big Bend Road and persisted in staying. Thus, began our T. Tommy saga.

T. Tommy has complicated feeding time since I feed him separately to ensure harmony and adequate nutrition for other cats. I warn our visitors that the friendly tom cat must have been hand-fed treats because anyone who talks with their hands runs the risk of a nip.

Many times, he still meows with a high-pitched, squeaky sound at the front door hoping to get into the house. I tell him, “T. Tommy, you picked the wrong house. Mom doesn’t like cats indoors.”

I sometimes physically move him so Mother has a clear path to the car. He is such an assuming feline, appearing confident that wherever he has stationed himself is the  precise spot that he should be.

Occasionally, we encounter people who are demanding, assuming, belligerent, and downright pushy. Mother likes to quote the scripture phrase from I Corinthians 13:4 –

Love suffers long, and is kind;

Mother prefers “suffers long” instead of “is patient.” She says “suffers long” conveys more effectively the difficulty of dealing with some people and situations. These two words express the reality of love given by God as the only impetus for being kind in such troublesome times with troubled people.

            Just as T. Tommy coming to the pink house on Big Bend Road created new challenges, so do high-maintenance, high-strung people who venture across our paths. Yet T. Tommy enjoys the family in the pink house. He has even learned to jump in the crate where his food pan stays. I no longer lift him into it.  In the same way, overwrought people require us to lean upon the Lord for His strength and wisdom to interact positively with them. Just like the progress we have seen with T. Tommy, so our high-strung friends can grow in “learning to rest in the Lord.” But don’t be surprised when just like T. Tommy, they photobomb a picture unannounced.