Welcome Basil

I took a field trip to the Humane Society with my neighbor, who kindly drove. Met some female cats who swatted or hissed or otherwise clearly indicated their lack of interest in getting to know me better. And then there was this black fluffy male cat who leaned into the cage and purred when I petted him. The sign said to be wary, but he merely turned his head to look at me when I stopped, in that "more, please" kind of way.

So I met him, and he promptly rubbed against me and purred, and a bunch of bureaucracy later, I brought him home. Did you know you have to present a valid driver's license to adopt a cat? Feh. And wow, is the Humane Society a stressful, unhappy place to be.

Someone had named him Clooney, but I'm not willing to holler that down the street, so I renamed him Basil. Kind of along the theme of Willow and Lilac, but more masculine-sounding. Pronounced with a long A, though.

He has a recently-healed fractured jaw, so his face is a little crooked, but he's not protective of it at all, likes to be scritched there. Total lovebug lap cat. When he snuggles in I get the sense of being fellow survivors, and of his relief to be here, rather than there. Maybe I'm projecting, whatever, that's the sense I get. He's 6, which is a little older than I wanted, but oh well.

I hope it works out. I've combed handfuls of fur off him already (and he's currently scratching at the bathroom door, where I put him for his first night). It seems like we're a good fit. He's not nearly as loud as Lilac, which is good, because he does seem to be talkative. I suspect tomorrow night he'll be sleeping with me.

Got a photo of him exploring.