ANCHORAGE - September 20, 2003. I MAY have acquired somebody to keep me company ... an apparently homeless kitten! Thanks to my sister, who is always getting me into some kind of trouble ... I have a cute little kitty staying at my house since Wednesday. The sign on the lawn, the ad in the paper, and the kids it tried to adopt dragging it door to door have not turned up any owners and Kathy's cat is very territorial. She wanted this interloper GONE.

So I went over to meet the cat and brought it home. Kathy reminds me that this is the season when mice try to move indoors with me. I hate having to trap the furry little beasties, so she speculates that this cat might be a good mouser... and already, I have toy mice underfoot all over the place. I don't like them much, either!

I fed and watered my feline guest, and while I was scrambling some eggs for a quick supper for me, Miss Kitty jumped up onto a window sill in the sunroom, dumping two potted plants into the kitchen sink upside down, and knocked over a folding chair that sliced the nose off a potted cactus plant. I'm sure it will get worse! My computer has two keyboards ... I'll bet she will figure that at least one of those keyboards is hers.

This agile cat is very social and is perched on my shoulder, purring her little heart out ... but she's also a talented jumper and will swing from the chandeliers, given half a chance. She's a "talker," too. Orange and gray, well blended, yellow eyes, long tufted ears, long ringed tail. My house isn't kidproof or catproof. I'll have to scramble to stay ahead of Miss Kitty. She doesn't have a real name yet, but I have to call her something. We'll see.

I'll give this a couple of days, and if we're still speaking and no one has claimed Miss Kitty, we'll make a vet appointment and see about shots and spaying and a name -- and perhaps a companion, before she gets too settled in and claims all the territory. I don't know beans about keeping cats, having last had one of my own many years ago, though I grew up with cats that lived mostly outdoors and mainly came around to be fed.

BTW, if Miss Kitty doesn't find a better place to sleep and groom herself than on my typing arm or a keyboard, heaven knows how I'm going to keep up with my e-mail! I suppose she'll want to help me clean out the garage, to make room for my van.