Just checking in briefly to relate a recent experience. Purrs and best
wishes to all.

My sister went abroad for a few days, and Mum and I took turns looking
after her cats, Linus and Ronja (some old pictures at
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/album?.dir=a6f0re2&.src=ph&store).
 If you take a look at the pictures, you will see that Linus is a big
boy. A Very Big Boy. And in the past, he hasn't shown much affection for
me. So when my sister asked me to take him out on his leash a few times,
I was a bit skeptical. This is the cat who, in the past, has come out of
the blue and viciously attacked my leg when I was minding my own
business and certainly not doing him any harm. This is the macho cat who
chased an elk off his territory one summer on the island. This is the
cat who is the terror of the island, diligently keeping all other cats
away from *his* house there.

When I arrived to my sister's place the first time, Linus was his usual
stand-offish self. Even when I put down food in his bowl, he waited
until I was a few steps away before he attacked the food. I almost
decided not to try walking him after all, but I had promised my sister I
would, and hate to go back on a promise.

So I found Linus' harness and leash, and showed them to him. Instantly,
he ran into the hallway, jumped up on a table, and stood to attention to
let me put the harness on him. His expression changed completely, from
the menacing glower he had worn before to an almost kitten-like
expression of hope and, dare I say it, begging. I opened the door, and
when we got outside, the first thing he did was wind himself around my
legs several times. Aww!

He then proceeded to zoom around (as much as the leash and the slow
hoomin hanging on to the other end permitted), jumping up on trees,
hanging like a potato sack a few centimetres above ground and looking
wildly about him, then jumping down, zooming over to the next tree,
jumping up, hanging like a potato sack a few centimetres above ground,
etc. Every now and then he came back to me and wound around my legs. He
went up behind the house and meowed to Ronja, who was sitting in the
window. Then he happily trotted back home and asked to be let inside.

When I arrived the following day, there was none of the stand-offish
glaring I'd experienced the day before. No, this time I was Linus' Best
Friend in the Whole World! He couldn't be happier to see me. He wound
himself around my legs, and almost forgot to eat the food I put down
because he Loved me sooo much. Of course, I took him for another walk.
He was just as happy and grateful as the day before.

I'm pretty sure, though, knowing Linus (and cats in general), that now
that my sister is back home and on walkie duty, Linus will be back to
his grumpy old self and hating me just as much as ever before.