A Special Story About:

Wonders Never Cease: The Spirit of Clyde Returns
-- or--
Does Eddie Cat appreciate music?

by C.H.U. (Clyde's Human Unit)

May 7, 2004

Tonight , Eddie Cat gave me a wondrous experience. It was one of those things that can't be recorded, but can be told to inspire wonder in the heart and imagination. It's something that can only be taken on faith, and with a knowing from those who "know" things, especially about the wonder of cats.

The wall clock had just chimed the midnight hour. I was working late in my studio, at my art table, sitting on my art stool, so my office "spin around" chair (it spins, obviously) was empty. Eddie Cat (more formally known as "Sir Edward Pussycat" and the aid and inspiration in the composition of "Fanfur for the Uncommon Cat" featured on Clyde Catette) was being particularly friendly tonight. He was in a mood-- not able to get "enough of me" or my attention. He eyed the empty chair and jumped on board. I knew he wanted a ride, so I spun him around to his great delight. (For those of you who don't know, both Eddie and Gertrude cats LOVE to spin in my office chair. Check the Gert and Eddie pages at ClydeSight2.0! and their "NASA Astronaut Training"-- or "Still Dizzy After All These Years")!

I had earlier decided to listen to Symphonia Felina and Other Mewsical Masterworks through my studio cassette player. Like the fans, I enjoy the music very much.

While I worked, I absently spun Eddie around with one hand while the music played in the background. Eddie rolled around and romped in the chair, making little grunting noises and chirps and I became lost in my work. Then, for some reason-- I know not what-- I noticed Eddie had become very quiet. The tape was playing "Toccata Temporal". I especially like this piece because it was the first one Clyde Big Paws and I composed together. It was the first piece we posted on the Internet in MIDI form, and it was what many fans considered our best work. One fan even told us that he cried when he heard it because it moved him so much. I gave Clyde credit as the composer, something cat fans loved. When Clyde died in 1997, many wrote in that they felt the loss of a great "mewsician" (The poetess Ariel wrote a wonderful eulogy). They knew, of course that Clyde could not have actually composed the music, but being cat lovers themselves, they had no doubt that he influenced me as I composed it with him by my side.

Something in me said that tonight was a special night. I had had a "feeling" all day, one of those odd excitements that makes no sense, but is none the less real. An anticipation of-- I knew not what. Some might call it anxiety, others might call it "second sight". I had lost the feeling when I began my work, but it suddenly returned in a rush.

I turned-- there was Eddie sitting with his back to me, bolt upright in the chair, his ears pricked high, looking intently at the stereo speakers! He had the look of a cat who has found something that is absolutely fascinating (you can tell by the ears and body posture). Then I realized what it was. He was in rapt attention to the music!

"Clyde Clock", a one of the featured virtual instruments in that selection, was tic-toc-ing back and forth across the stereo channels, sounding TIC from the left channel, TOC from the right and so on. Eddie was listening with intense interest. He turned his head from side to side with each TIC-TOC. He had heard this tape many times. But never before did I see such concentrated attention. He was sitting so straight, his body poised in such alertness. I looked down, he was twitching his tail to the exact same beat! To see him tilt his head from side to side in response to the rhythm of the music, as if he was watching a tennis ball during a match, was extremely funny!

I wanted to grab my camera and snap a picture, but as anyone with a cat knows, that simply distracts and spoils the mood. So I sat quietly, pretending to return to my work-- knowing that cats know when you are watching and will stop what they are doing because you're watching. I pretended disinterest, but kept a look out of the corner of my eye to see Eddie staring at the speakers, cocking his head and swaying from side to side. He was really getting into it, literally rocking to the music! It was all I could do to suppress my laughter.

When the piece finished, Eddie turned to face me, licked his nose, and jumped from the chair, marching off to the kitchen for a snack of his dry food. And the cassette played on. I returned to my work with a grin, shaking my head in wonder.

I have lived with many cats for many years, and what I have said about Clyde and Gertrude and Eddie listening and helping me compose music is true. But it has been some time since we made the tape. Yet tonight, Eddie, as if to say, "I still love the music" showed--as only a cat can-- his appreciation of what Clyde and I created many years ago.

Then my mind was filled with thoughts of Clyde. I had an odd thought. Perhaps Clyde's departed spirit was in that room too, for a short time, listening through Eddie's ears and saying, in his enigmatic way "I'm still with you." I could not imagine why Clyde would come to visit. It was just a passing thought and I dismissed it as silly.

Yet, I could not shake the feeling that there was something I was missing. The recollection of Clyde was bringing back memories, and I decided to look at his "baby book", a collection of pictures and information I had made about him when he was an adorable kitten. Imagine my astonishment when I read the following entry:

Clyde Big Paws -- Born May 7, 1990

That was 14 years ago to the day!

Did Clyde's spirit return to celebrate his birthday with me? Was Eddie just interested in the music because of the moving (literally) sound? No one will ever know, but it is an incident that once more proves the wonder of the glorious cat. It really is a privilege to share our lives with them.

 

 

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