The weather is improving and the days are starting to get long enough so that there's a sliver of sunlight left when I get home from work. Today I decided I want to take Fil for a walk (I'd love to take Mak, but he'd freak out).

My mom had bought these harnesses for my cats when she had brief custody while I made a quick trip to DC and New York. I don't know if she ever used them. She might have told me, but I can't remember. I actually thought she was joking when she said she bought them. I've had them ever since I came back west, but never used them until recently.

Now, my poor cats, who grew up running around the jungles of Samoa, have been more or less under house arrest since they arrived in this country. They were living large in Sedona and had some brief ventures in the snow around Vail, but other than that, they've been locked safely inside the house. Well, there was the daring Halloween escape, but that was an anomaly.

This was the second time I took Fil out. The first time, I harnessed her up, carried her downstairs and she mostly flopped around on the ground like a demented ferret. She did some exploring, but went into kitty hysterics when someone walked by.

This afternoon, it was a different story. Sure, she flopped around a little, but once she got used to the harness and understood the lead, she walked right with me. We walked down the street to the bay and watched the sunset over San Francisco. She even came up to a complete stranger and let herself be rubbed down. I probably let her eat way too much grass, but she was in heaven being outside and I wanted her to enjoy it as much as possible.

We were out for about 45 minutes. When we came back to the apartment, what did Mak do? He tried to sniff her ass and then sulked off. The venture out took a toll on little. She crashed. Now she's curled in tiny ball, hugging her face and sleeping right next to me. She's hard not to love.