Right on schedule, a cat showed up on our front steps. My sister and l were sunning ourselves on the steps and trying to decide what to do next during a rather boring summer vacatior The huge tabby-colored tomcat came and brushed his long fur against our legs. He never asked for any food, mind you, but just seemed to want to be petted. We learned later the cat was a Maine coon, so named because of its size and because some people in Maine evidently thought the large breed looked like a raccoon "This is a sweet kitty," my sister Denise crooned, scratching the cat's ears. Hardly a kitty at that size, l thought, but the cat just bellied up for more sunning and scratching as if he belonged with us "We aren't keeping that cat," said Mom. "It's a stray; we don't know anything about it, and it's too big." The cat didn't seem to mind. He just sauntered away like he owned the whole neighborhood We saw the cat only occasionally during the hot days of August and the milder days of September, but when the rain showers of October came, the cat renewed its efforts to be adopted. Try to enjoy a fall evening with a cat the size of a small raccoon howling on top of your mailbox. Still, our parents wouldn't let us bring the cat inside, which reduced Denise to tears