Ninja's New Year's Resolution

As any respectable ninja, I take care of my body. I practice meditation, yoga and Aikido. That is... I used to! When I lived in Pacific Grove with my dog Sensei Master 's they gave me plenty of aerobic exercise to do. (Mostly they chased me.) I was a finely honed specimen of feline sinew and muscle, as I am sure you can tell by looking at my photo. I was in prime condition. RIght?

But, things changed! When I first arrived, there was only Jeffery. He was quite an elderly gentleman cat, a forester, and had incredible tales of life in the wild. Certainly believable by the state of his missing teeth and scrawny appearance. Though not a martial artist like myself, he could throw a resounding sneaky punch that left me airless! Being a gentlemancat, I did not retaliate.

I understood right away when introduced to Jeffery that he was depressed and had not been eating. No wonder he was so skinny!  So when I came along, suddenly Jeffery's appetite was back. There's nothing like a good competition between mancats, you know! Mama-san was feeding him a lot of food, as much as he could eat, so he would gain weight. And naturally, without my dog Sensei Master's to discipline me in my ninja exercise program, I became lazy, I mean... more meditative, that is.  Since Jeffery was generous, I ate freely at his bowl, and have admittedly the sinew has become saggy, the muscles have become muffled, the finely honed has become hunky-chunky. Well, again, I'm sure you can tell just by looking at my photo.

So today, in front of the whole world, this most humble Ninja will do the most inscrutable correct thing. I have now made my New Year Resolution to shape up!