| This is another in the CLASSIC NED STORIES COLLECTION. Over the years we collected a bevy of stray cats and sometimes dogs, in fact, we still amass a lot of cats to this day as both our barns will attest to. Among the hordes of cats, one cat especially stands out. One day this cat "just showed up" at the farm. This cat was really different than any other cat we ever saw. It was pure white with short hair, and it had 24 toes - 6 on each foot, I believe the medical term for it is Polydactyl. (Hey, I once knew a girl by that name... no wait... come to think of it, her name was Polly Graff, she never told a lie...). It walked somewhat pigeon-toed because of the large size of its feet and had a very gregarious personality but acted "very strangely" most of the time. (Hmmm, other than the 24 toes, that sounds a lot like me)! The cat took an immediate liking and affinity to Uncle Ned and they were henceforth inseparable. It followed him all over the farm. Because of his personality and odd behavior, Ned named him "Goofy". After a period of time, Ned started to seriously entertain the notion (aided no doubt by Dark Port Wine) that Goofy must be a reincarnation of either 1 of 2 of his close deceased pals. One was a Marine Corps buddy, Sargeant Lippert who was killed on Saipan, and the other was "Deedle" Peabody, who had drown in Lake Erie a year or so previously. After entertaining all of us for several months, poor "Goofy" met the same fate as many of our other stray cats had; he was killed in the road. We really mourned his loss, since being so goofy, "Goofy" was one of us! |
