Fat Cat, Bad Cat

(Wednesday, September 17). Chester, the king cat at our inn, looks like he's aiming at becoming the Heavyweight Champion of the (Cat) World. He snuck up to our table in the dining room this morning, hoping we might offer him some bits and bobs of our breakfast (sorry, Chester, we've just got granola, fruit and yogurt today) before he was picked up and escorted outside by one of the inn's staff. Later on, he insisted on posing for a portrait when Dick was walking to the car, camera in hand.
For years, another Ashland fat cat, Ernie, presided over the shoe store on Main Street. A big party with a cake was held every year on his birthday, he received cards and letters from around the world, and was featured on national TV. Sadly, Ernie went to Cat Heaven a couple years or so back. He was replaced by Lolita who was still the Reigning Queen Cat of The Store when we were in Ashland during the summer of 2007.
This morning, we wandered up to the store and realized that something was wrong --- the door, always kept closed to prevent the Resident Cat from escaping, was wide open. We figured Lolita had gone to Cat Heaven to join Ernie. However, it turns out that Lolita was the She-Cat From Hell, unfriendly, stand-offish, and worse yet, prone to biting the customers (very bad for business). So Lolita is now living in Cat Purgatory. A new cat joined the store a couple of weeks ago, but was sleeping in the back, out of sight (explaining why the store's front door was open). When we walked by later, the door was closed, but the new cat was no where to be seen.