A Real Cat Fight

Sometimes other government agencies make me sad. They need something more important to do than to harass the cats that live in the Hemingway house.

"Hemingway acquired his first cat from a ship's captain in Key West, where he made his home for a number of years. This cat, which may have been a Maine Coon, had extra toes (known as polydactyl, latin for "many digits"). Today, about 60 cats, half of them polydactyl, make their home in the Ernest Hemingway Museum and Home, in Key West, protected by the terms of his will.

Last year we visited the house and were amazed at all the cats slinking about the property. They have a large brick wall that surrounds the property to keep the cats in (so they claim). The kids had no clue who Hemingway was, of course, and the tour guide stopped in mid-step half-way through the tour, turned a crooked eye on them both and said, "Hey you girls, I bet you're really excited about visiting the old house of some ole dead guy, right?"