Evening star., 1944-09-19
This and That
BIZ Charles E. TracepeH.

War Is an odd thing.
Man touches his creates depth of
1diocy In making it. and yet he uses all
his intelligence in waging 1t.
1t is the zenith of waste. and yet 1t
brings out all the heroism and man
illness OF men. and makes a nation
stronger. Ut will make the German
nation stronger, too-let us not forget
that
War is the outdoor life at its very
peak. Fresh air and exercise come into
their own. And yet along with its
health 1t brings the greatest crop of
physical and mental misery possible.
\
There was one living creature, re-
Gently, who went outdoors for the first
time in her life. and who was not wor-
ried in the least by such reflections as
these
She was Penny, the house cat, who,
after eight years lived exclusively in
doors, found herself outdoors, in the
playground of warriors and sportsmen.
She had watched the outdoors through
window glass and screen. but evidently
1t had never penetrated her mind that
she, too, might go out.
Outdoors, to her. probably was Just a
picture. The thought never occurs to
motion picture watchers that they might
step into the film, and become a veri-
table part of it.
Penny, perched at her window,
watched other cats in the yard
She knew they were out. but when a
door was held open to her, she would
draw back, or not move, which was
about the same thing.
Mans psychology affected her little.
She got her two square meals a day
with regularity Petting was hers in
more abundance than she wished.
Every bed and chair in the house was
open to her. She liked to go up in the
attic and sleep the hours away.
1t seemed that regularity of conduct
had no greater example either on four
legs or two, when suddenly something
happened.
Maybe 1t was the hot, muggy weather.
Maybe 1t was an occult influence which
went clear back to Egypt, the home of
all cats.
1t was difficult to say who was the
more disturbed when the door was
swung open for her that afternoon.
Was it he who held the screen wide,
or she who was stepping out for the
first time in her life?
Only the god OF mild absurdities
knew.
At any rate, what was evident was
that Penny stood on the back porch, out
In the great open air at last, where birds
ny and battles are fought
She stood there tense, tail held high,
head up, eyes wild.
She advanced to the steps, looked
down, and then swiftly descended.
She raised her feet, as they met grass.
Grass was something new in her life
But 1t didn't take her more than 80
seconds, nat, to get used to it.
y
This was the life
Penny was discovering that she, too,
was an outdoor animal.
Suddenly, she fairly folded her legs
beneath her, and ran as If the devil
were after her.
Never before had she known the joy
of pure movement.
When she came to the fence, the ques-
ton was, would she stop there?
1t was soon answered. She did not,
but went on through.
NOW she was gone. The folks in the
house believed she would never come
back. How could she know where she
lived?
A nervous half hour was broken, at
aast, by sound at the screen door.
There was Penny, leaping up to get in.
Since then, she has been out every
day, but always comes back every IS
minutes or so to get in, or at least to
look in and satisfy herself that she can
come in when she wants to. She Is like
the canary which returns to its cage, or
the zoo animal which no longer feels
at home outdoors.