Dundee

2002-2007

Mark and his wife Diana first encountered little Dundee one evening in September 2002, on a walk in the park with Jasper, their first dog. Dundee, only about four months old, was living wild on what he could scavenge in the picnic area. They lured the resistant kitten into a carrying box with food, and thereafter he settled into his new comfy existence.

He had seemed such an intrepid little fellow that Mark and Diana chose to name him after that denizen of the Australian outback, Crocodile Dundee. But he soon showed his true colors, with a fondness for soft cushions, and a terror of strangers. Every time the doorbell rang Dundee would flee to the basement, bravely emerging an hour after the visitor had gone. But when no-one else was around, Dundee made himself the centre of attention, always up for a cuddle, or a game of chase-the-spot. He rapidly became Diana's closest friend, and his favorite place in the world was her lap, closely followed by her bathroom, in which (unbeknownst to the other cats in the household, who are rather fat) he was secretly fed extra rations.

Dundee heard a lot of Irish music being played in the house, and whilst he never demonstrated a general interest, there was one set of tunes of which he seemed particularly fond. Every time Mark started to play the "Wandring Minstrel/Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part/Lark on the Strand" set, Dundee would arrive in the music room, listen intently, then happily wander off again when the set was over.

Dundee left this world very suddenly, just before he turned five. He was, in the words of Bob Dylan, one of nature's unharmful, gentle souls. He is, and always will be, greatly missed. Happy to meet, sorry to part, indeed.