Clicked in July 2006 / Italy (*album)

Wendina, Wendina, Wendina… she was the reason I missed watching the World Cup Soccer finals between Italy and France last year. She whined, scampered under the dining table, blood dripping from the tear in her ear… we found out later that she was muscled and clawed by the neighbor’s cat. Poor Wendy.

One of the neighbors was a French lady and was the only one there supporting France amidst all the Italians. A crowd had assembled in the garage to watch the game on the big screen TV that was setup there… screaming, singing, cheering and cussing as the game progressed. I was inside with my wife and her cousins watching the game as I helped myself to a sumptuous dinner… gorging on the vegetarian pizzas that were prepared specially for me (since I am a Vegetarian).

Wendina scampered in through the door hid under the dining table and whined as she shivered continuously. Jessica noticed that she was bleeding… in the minutes that followed getting her out and in open space where we could examine her, there were blood splatter on the walls, under the dining table, on the under surface of the dining table and on our clothes. The next 2 hours was spent trying to stop the bleed and consoling Wendy. My wife Jessica and her cousin Antonella had blood splatter all over their clothes and even on their faces.

The French lady who broke up the fight between her cat and Wendy had been scratched too… it appears that the cat had a bad temperament and it wasn’t unusual. And by that time, the match was over and Italy had won the World Cup. The celebrations poured over onto the streets, you could see people waving the Italian flag through their car windows, shouting ‘Italia Italia Italia’, even those on motorcycles were driving with one hand holding onto the flag… I guess the party had just begun.