Page 28 - December 2019

FIELD NOTES

Swift burst out of the empty dumpster, wailed cats (the members of my home club can attest

a few times and sprinted to the house...actually to that).
the backyard since that is where I feed them. After rescuing Swift, and getting a gold star for
I met my frantic kitten a few minutes later - I the day on the (feline) naught/nice list, I had no
had to take the long way around - while she was trouble at all going to get tortured by my dentist...

frantically dashing between the food bowl, the who, coincidentally, is a dog owner (figures!).
water dish, the other cats, and my outstretched
hand. After 3 days trapped in a dumpster, she
was thinner than ever. But she was Swift - in

movement and attitude. The other cats weren’t
all that impressed she was back (but cats are
never impressed with anything). I,
however, was ecstatic.

As I sat by, watching and waiting
for the Swift kitten to slow down
enough to be held, I decided that I
used to be a cat. In a former life I was

most definitely a cat...and I would
still be one had the Council of Cats
not demanded that I be incarnated
as a lowly human whose task would

be to care for my cat overlords. It is
true; I am a cat servant...and I love it!
What does this all have to do
with Toastmasters, you ask? Well,

everything! Toastmasters helped
me perfect my persuasive speaking
skills so I could rescue trapped cats.
Toastmasters helped me learn about

leadership so that I could be a better
servant to my cats. Toastmasters has
kept me on the straight and narrow
(ok...maybe not straight) and out

of trouble so I can be around for
my cats. And Toastmasters gives
me a soapbox from which to wax
eloquent about the superiority of

28 ONE COMMUNITY