Have I mentioned Farmer Gary‘s deep fascination with the Amish? He admires their simple lifestyle and enjoys talking to both current and former Amish.

Throughout this borderline obsession (lasting all of our 40-year marriage), Gary’s been sure to school me on what he’s learned, including a practice known as rumspringa.

What exactly is rumspringa? It’s a rite of passage in some Amish communities, allowing teenagers more than their traditionally limited amount of freedom as it pertains to behavior. At the end of rumspringa, the teen decides whether to be baptized as an adult or to leave the Amish community.

And so, when Yow-Yow Kitty disappeared a week ago, I had to ask Gary the difficult question:

Is it rumspringa?

Gary confessed that he hadn’t had “the talk” with Yow-Yow Kitty yet, and that our outdoor cat might indeed be off “exploring.”

Indeed, the next day Gary caught a glimpse of YYK dashing between the barn and granary (at the north end of our property, a half mile from our house). His brother (who lives within earshot of the barn) reported he’d heard a distinctive yow-ing the past several days.

Gary sat on our front porch, reading, the other afternoon. Sans kitty. It made me very sad.

“Yow-Yow come home!” I called into the wind that evening.

Yesterday, Gary returned from picking up the farm mail and announced he saw YYK on the front porch. Not on our front porch, though. Over at the farm.

Gary drove down the driveway and stopped by the farmhouse, assuming Yow-Yow would recognize his truck and race over for a scritch and a scratch.

By then, though, YYK was in a nearby field. Uh … watering his wild oats. Following a look of guilt as their eyes locked momentarily, kitty dashed off.

I did some Googling and sighed deeply with the realization that cats can stay in heat for something like 29 days. This could be a while.

But wait! Our prodigal cat returned this morning! He’s back to his daily sentinel duties, patrolling the forest, crossing our back deck diagonally, curling up on the pumpkin swing. Yowing.

Welcome home, kitty.

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