It was March 1986, according to a note on the file. My assistant and I are at the stove in our former townhouse in the Tropic Gardens condominium above the freeway across from Kahala Mall.

That’s our first cat, Windfola, named after a character in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a small gray horse ridden by one of the hobbits (my memory fails me about anything more specific than that). She was nearly 17 when this was taken.

She was always ready to lend her assistance in the kitchen, even when a dangerously sharp instrument was involved. And, yes, she probably did get rewarded.