cats taught me a lot about boundaries

I went on a walk today. The weather is nice, temperate. I can take four consecutive steps without sweating beads. Autumn is here. Let’s go. I make my way to the first stop of my walk: local café. It’s bustling for a Saturday morning, but still enough seats for me to choose from. I order chai with an espresso shot added in, and two pastries. I wait at the bar area. I’m thinking ahead of how the walk will go, then just as I’m beginning to thinking too far ahead, my order is ready. I eat, sip, and read a book until my pulse jumpstarts and I can’t sit still. The objective is to walk again. Trash is tossed respectfully, and my exit is punctuated by the door chiming a farewell. The next stop is a public park. I take a different route this time. I pass by a set of apartments with sparsely filled parking spaces. I see a cat make its way underneath cars in a coordinated path, predetermined, wired into its front and hind legs. That is, until I step on a crunchy leaf while trying to get a better…