I was checking my hits, and had a kind of strange reference from a Yahoo search engine for key words "Cat in". I'm assuming that whoever ran the search was thinking in terms of "Cat in the Hat", though why they didn't just type in "Cat in the Hat" is beyond me. Too many letters perhaps. I ended up as #1112 on the search list for an entry I did entitled "Grey Cat in my Lap". What intrigued me was number 1113 on the list though, "Cat in Garbage Disposal".

Come on. You'd have clicked on it too. Admit it.

After I read Cat in Disposal I immediately thought it had to be a hoax. I set out to debunk it. A few web searches later, I'd turned up dozens of sites that repeated this story verbatim. I was more motivated than ever to get to the bottom of this, because a local town is listed as the place this happened. A search on the purported author's name led me to yet more copies of the story, including this one: Catch of the Day Lands Cat in Garbage Disposal, by Patti Schroeder. Not only is this story true, but Patti Schroeder teaches English at my undergraduate school.

Serendipity. Perhaps it isn't the epiphany I expected, but it's still perfect for driving home the message that life goes on. And it reminds me as well that there is humor to be found in the strangest places. To paraphrase Forrest Gump, life is like a cat in a garbage disposal. You do your damnedest to save the cat, and then you take a step back, take a look at events, and laugh at what you've been through. And maybe that's what I did wrong yesterday. I forgot to take a look back and laugh for the joy of being alive. Thanks Patti. You too, Rudy.