Getting Furrified!
Relaxing Vibes at the Happy Tabby Cat Cafe, Atlanta, Ga.
Getting Furrified!
Relaxing Vibes at the Happy Tabby Cat Cafe, Atlanta, Ga.
Ever considered taking
your lunch break in a tea-house boutique where half of the furniture consists
of scratching posts, rug-covered pedestals and a set of bunk beds and half the patrons
spend their time in a mix of napping, carousing and tumbling around together on
the floor? It might sound a little
unorthodox, I know, but if you’ve got stress (and who doesn’t?), maybe it could
be worth a shot. It sure worked out for
Guild members Yvonne Walker, Mia Maine, Dap Tales and I (al-Falaq) on a warm Saturday
early afternoon in April.
From under a sky draped
in bed sheet-like clouds, we walked into the Happy Tabby Cat Café and were
greeted with warmth by a young gentleman under a menu of teas hand written on a
chalkboard. Placing an order for our
drinks and muffins included a moment wherein we were given the house
rules: No Loud Noises or Sporadic
Activity, No Rough Play or Mishandling of the Denizens. You see, as the name very clearly suggests,
Happy Tabby’s collection of customers is not only categorized by the human
interlopers seeking steamy cups of tea and snacks, but more essentially by the
fluffy, furry felines presently observed by us roaming about the place or
reclining on one of the many pedestals or in fluff coated cubbies just the
right size for these mini tenants.
Mostly rescue pets, some of whom are permanent residents and others
available for adoption, these kitties enjoy the glowing warmth and cozy charm
of this little bistro. Or maybe those
qualities are actually being infused into the place from the carefree comfort
of the critters themselves? Hmmmm!
We took our snacks to a
table in the main room, bathed in the diffuse light of the day outside the wall
to wall windows. In one corner of the
plate glass, a cat with gray fur sat roundly on the windowsill, gazing lazily
out at passersby on the sidewalk. What
judgment he may have assigned to these random figures we will probably never
know; who can fathom the mind of a cat, in any case? Formal looking felines in tuxedo-ish fur
(black coats, white necks and chins) acted anything but formal, as they rollicked
around on the floor in a spastic frenzy broken by brief spells of dazed, wide
eyed breath-catching. This is the stuff
that mind ensnaring YouTube videos are made of.
We of the Georgia Nutts Guild munched our snacks, sipped our beverages
and conducted our meeting, writing our exercises, discussing our projects while
repeated glances around kept informing my sense of this place’s ambiance more
and more deeply. People from all walks of life were
comfy and smiling warmly. They were chill; feeling relaxed and happy. Some folks were petting or holding the little fur-balls
(encouraged) or whispering gentle nothings, as they stroked the fur-lined nappers that were recumbent on the cat towers or bunk beds (encouraged). Some of us engaged in play
with the more frisky of the kitties (cat toys provided in abundance), while others,
furry and fur-less, shared the space together with a permeating sense of calm and joy.
Cats sleeping in cave
like cubbies, napping among the verdant draping leaves of houseplants like lazy
jungle silhouettes, curling slit-eyed on top of the bunk beds. People lounging easily, happily and, at least
for a short while, carefree in a small, private, fur covered world removed from
the mundane stresses of the daily rat race routine. Happy Tabby?
Not only can I say, if it’s like this every day, but on this overcast
April afternoon, “Happy” applied to everyone.
