I am increasingly concerned for Chira’s well-being.  From the first day I engaged in a plan to befriend him, he never remained gone for more than a day or two.  Since I do not monitor the patio at all times and am not always home, even then I could not be certain that he did not stop by.  All I could be certain of was that I did not see him on those days; he may well have visited and I simply was unaware of his presence (or unavailable).

You see, my patio became a safe and welcoming retreat for him, a haven full of comfort, food and water, and affection.  Whether he just showed up to eat, to lounge about, or to get attention, he would be here almost every day.

It has now been more than a week since I last saw him.  I’ve watched carefully for several days thinking we might just be missing each other, yet he has not eaten any of the food left for him, has not visited the windows to see what was going on inside, and definitely has not enjoyed resting on the patio or fence where he most often could be found, not to mention showing up just to be petted.

White Rock is a 1015-acre lake with massive amounts of federal wildlife sanctuary surrounding it.  He could be anywhere.  He could be hurt.  Or worse.  Attempting to search for him would be an exercise in futility.

The best I can hope for is that he either has been adopted by someone else or has simply roamed further than normal.  I’ll be keeping an eye out for him…