Beloved Toy Watercolor and Gouache Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook 5.5 x 8.5 inches

That's a mouse.

Yeah, that gray fuzzy thing at the end of the red string.

Actually, it's the remains of a mouse.

It's lived survived through six cats and counting.

It has outlasted balls, feathers, springs, pieces of paper wadded up into balls, toilet paper rolls, catnip toys and all kinds of other things that pass for toys in the eyes of a cat.

And it, above all others, has been the most played-with, tugged-on, gnawed-on, swatted-at, chased, cherished toy in all of catdom.

It currently hangs off the back of the chair in our living room.

Without fail, if you pass too close to the chair, at least two bright, eager eyes will peer over the seat waiting for you to make the mouse move.

And you do.

Because what kind of human would you be if you did not entertain the feline-in-residence?

And the small, frayed little mouse is leaving—tug-by-tug, fiber by fiber.

I wanted to capture it before it was completely gone.

The string, while picked and pulled, is still in good shape.

We could probably attach a new mouse…but it just wouldn't be the same.

This one has staying power, history.

And you can't replace history.

Because it's just not the same.

I consider this another sketch in the Ordinary to Extraordinary Series.

What have you elevated from ordinary to extraordinary lately?