Molly Midnight

Molly Midnight, named for the little cat who was an artist's model and subject of a children's book in the 1970s, was 10 years old when she was adopted. She would have been put to sleep, otherwise.

Molly needed a home urgently, but so very shortly after sweet Strega had gone to the Rainbow Bridge.

One door closes, and another one opens.

Kyoto and Karinoe eating greenie bones. Molly and Genji watching

I was not born with paint on my paws. But you might think so, seeing me now and knowing where I was born.

I spent my first days in Provincetown. That is a small town on Cape Cod where many painters live and visit. But as a newborn kitten, I never dreamed that someday the life of an artist's model would be for me -- me, Molly Midnight!

"Well, Molly, I think after I finish this cup of coffee I'm going down to my studio to paint."

Then it happened - just the way I had always hoped it would!

"Would you like to be my model?"

"Meow," I said.

Being an artist's model means posing in one position for long stretches of time. I was already very good at staying in one position, because I could pose and sleep at the same time.