Calico cats, that is.

We adopted our first calico in 1986. It was Christmas. My mother’s neighbor brought home a kitten given to her by someone in the bar up at Spindrifter in Kahala Mall, where she was a regular. She took the kitten home and fed it bowls of milk, apparently thinking that was the thing to do. Of course, the kitten’s intestines rebelled. And after the kitten messed up the bathroom where she was being kept, the neighbor said she had to “get rid” of her.

Since we were down to just one cat at that point, a 17-year old gray tiger, we welcomed the opportunity to bring that kitten home.

We named her Miki. Half a year later, in June 1987, Meda got a case of kitten fever. We ended up at a Kalihi pet store and came home with the runt of another litter. Yes, another calico, who was given the name, Kua.

At some point my mother took a ceramics class (or two) offered at the park next to Kahala School, and she made a pair of ceramic calicos and presented us with them.

Kua died prematurely in 1998 of congenital heart failure. Miki died in November 2004 at the respectable age of 17.

We didn’t live with calico again until we adopted Kali in September 2020. And now, as of mid-afternoon on Wednesday, there are two.

I picked up The-Cat-Currently-Known-As-Betsy from her temporary home near the top of Aiea Heights this afternoon and brought her home. The pick-up was delayed because I forgot to plug our car in last night, and had to charge it for several hours today to be sure I could make it back from Aiea. This is the first time that our decision to stick with slow charging almost created a real problem. Luckily, it was charged enough to get me to Aiea and back in time for this important rendezvous.

We’re trying to hold off on a definitive name selection until we get to know this new cat. Sometimes a name will suddenly just seem obvious. We do have one name in the running, Bessie. It’s also a diminutive of Elizabeth, like Betsy, and my dad had an Aunt Bessie, his father’s sister. She also made her way from Scotland to California during the years my dad was growing up. But it’s too early to say if it will fit.

Kali and Kinikini know something’s going on because they’re now closed out of the room where our new addition will spend at least the next couple of weeks.

Like Kali and Kini before her, the-cat-now-known-as-betsy quickly moved from the carrier to a spot hiding under the futon. She will come out and do a bit more exploring after it gets dark, I’m sure. I have two kitty cams set up in the room, so we can keep tabs on her progress.

If you look closely in the top photo, you see Kali to the left on the futon, the-cat-now-known-as-betsy in the carrier, and Kinikini looking at us from the other end of the hall.

And here she is after retreating under the futon, which previously protected Kali and Kini during their first weeks becoming accustomed to being in a new living situation. I tried to tell her that she’s a big winner in the cat colony lottery sweepstakes. But she’ll eventually figure it out on her own.