The Very Special Gift: A Portrait of Dexter

I arrived home on Wednesday afternoon to find a surprise waiting for me on the front porch. A box, all the way from my friend Paula (Subjunctive) in Canada! I opened the box with Dexter's very excited help.

What did we find inside but several unexpected gifts: a lovely personal message, several pretty note cards with envelopes, Father Goose, a book I've wanted to read for a very long time (it is the inspiration for one of my favorite films, Fly Away Home), and this, the crowning glory: a beautiful framed portrait of Dexter!

Dexter's favorite gift was the box, of course; he being a cat and all. You buy a cat something, or send it something nice, and dagnabbitall, the cat spends the entire evening playing with the BOX the gift came in!

Cats are like that. Apparently, it cannot be helped. Dexter says that boxes from Canada are especially tasty, as they add that special U in flavoUr, which gives them a little extra zip. :-)

The portrait was my favorite part, of course. And so I took it out of the box immediately and jumped around like a jumping-bean, screaming at my husband to LOOK LOOK LOOK LOOK LOOK! (He did; believe me when I say there is No Ignoring Me when I am truly excited and happy.)

Then I tried to get some pictures of Dexter posed beside his portrait. He chop-slammed it. He licked it, and then looked (with pink tongue out) a little derpy and embarrassed. And then there was this photo, taken by the front stairs: I can honestly say that Dexter was simply beside himself.  :-)

The portrait is a very good likeness, and Paula (when I sent her an effusive thank-you message) replied that she had created the portrait, drawing from photos I had posted, including this one. There were plenty to work from! She even captured that one tiny white dot Dexter has just to the ONE side of his terracotta nose.

Good and beautiful things happened to me on this day, but this was the very best. Thank you, Paula. Dexter loved the box, and I loved the gifts inside it. We are grateful, and I can't wait to hang the portrait somewhere where I can see it every day. It is a precious gift.

So is it obvious that I am besotted with this cat? For I surely am. He is a good cat and a cherished companion. And now: even the subject of a fine work of art!

So here, to accompany this picture of double-Dexter, is a song from a girl to her cat (OK, so it's a little sappy, but please humor me; I wear my Crazy Cat Lady badge with glee): Don McLean, with And I Love You So.