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Most people go jogging with their dogs. I jog with Ra, my wonderful Abyssinian cat. At first, people look at me with a weird expression and I’m pretty sure their first thought is, ‘He’s walking a cat? Only dogs can be walked.’ I ignore them as Ra tugs me along. Sometimes it seems like he has much more energy than I do and I smile a little to myself.Abyssinians are a beautiful breed, with the typical coloration being similar to deer. They’re also very active. That’s how Ra came to me. A friend of mine saw how lovely Abyssinians looked and bought one, only to realize that they didn’t have nearly enough stamina to keep up. I had been looking for an active companion at the time and so it worked out nicely for the both of us. He makes sure that I don’t slack off, even if I’m not an athlete anymore.Our usual route was closed today for a marathon. Thankfully I live in a city famous for its expansive park district and so there’s plenty of alternate paths to take. Today we go for a jog along the river parkway. It’s early autumn so a bit too early for beautiful fall colors but crisp enough to make jogging comfortable.I can tell that Ra likes the change. He’s a smart and inquisitive cat that loves to explore. I make a note to myself to change up our routes from now on so that he gets the extra stimulation he craves.I take a water break by an obelisk in memory of veterans. It’s a peaceful spot with plenty of benches and gardens. As I sigh, I hear someone grunting. Ra hears it too and goes off to the fence in front of me. I follow him and look down to see a gentle slope down to a cliff with a man on it. He has a crowbar and seems to be struggling with prying out a rock from the dried mud.Ra wastes no time in discovering the little pathway that this man probably took to get down there. He likes people and if he can, he goes up to greet every single one of them he sees.“Do you need help?”The man lets out a high-pitched little ‘eep!’ I must have started him.“Sorry for startling you. I heard your effort from the benches above and Ra here couldn’t pass up an opportunity to meet someone new.”On queue, Ra paws up, sniffs his dusty pant leg and then rubs his sides on it. He approves of the stranger.“Y-yeah… do you know how to use a p-pick…?”I nod. I look over to see a paint bucket with some tools and rocks in it, grabbing the pickaxe. I insert the blunt end on the same side as his crowbar.“Ready? Push on three.”He nods in turn and the both of us are able to pry the rock loose. It’s a big, flat, triangular chunk, about an inch thick.“Th-thanks… I saw this lovely b-brachiopod on it and wanted my s-students to see it too…”Taking a closer look at the rock, I see that it’s not flat at all. It’s covered in all sorts of coral-like structures, shells and rings. It’s a complex mosaic of different shades of grey. I realize that this person must be a paleontologist of some kind. I smile at him. I’m an archeologist, so we both specialize in digging in the dirt.“I suppose I should introduce us. My name is Takaya and this is Ra, my cat. We go out for morning jogs together. I’m an assistant professor of archeology at one of the colleges near here.”When he hears that I’m an archeologist I swear that his eyes light up so much they look like molten gold. His anxious look also fades away.“My name’s Ren. I’m also an assistant professor, hoping for a permanent position at the university by here. I’m a paleontologist.”Ra meows his approval. I can never get tired of his soft little chirpy meows.“I haven’t seen you around before. Did you just move here?”“No, my usual route was closed for the marathon. Ra really seems to like the change so I think I’ll try to vary our runs a bit more now.”Ren keeps on looking at Ra and me like we’re precious treasure. I guess he hasn’t run into many other fellow dirt-diggers, much less ones close to his age. An unfortunate fact of paleontology and archeology is that it’s an old-boy’s club.“So then, would you mind telling me about why this rock is special?”If I didn’t know any better I’d say that his eyes and hair caught fire at that. Clearly he’s passionate about his work. He dives right into a long story about the Ordovician period, where this fossil is from. Most of the fossils are ‘bryozoans’ or ‘moss animals’ and they’re the coral-like structures. They’re colonial and lived much like modern corals do, except for that the individual animals are much more complex. We also don’t know how they fit into the overall tree of life very well. There’s living fresh and saltwater bryozoans though they’re not as abundant or diverse now as they were in the Ordovician.The rings are crinoid stems, or as many locals call them, “Cheerios.” We know them today as ‘sea lilies.’ They’re related to starfish and sea cucumbers and are filter feeders.What really got his attention was the beautifully preserved brachiopod. They look similar to bivalve mollusks but are in a completely different phylum. They have top-bottom symmetry rather than right-left symmetry which makes them easy to distinguish. We have living examples today but they’re not nearly as diverse.By the time he’s finished, he’s completely out of breath. I can’t stop myself from showing a stupidly wide grin. Ra, similarly, keeps on rubbing his sides on Ren’s legs. After recovering he has a look of worry but as soon as he sees my smile, visible relief washes over him.“Sorry… I have a tendency to ramble when it comes to fossils.”“No problem at all. I do the same with artefacts. How about we meet up again sometime to talk about this more?”“Yeah!”His pure childish joy is infectious. We exchange phone numbers and even arrange another meeting for next week at the fossil cliff. I help him lift the heavy prize to his car and see that he’s thoroughly covered in cat hair.“Sorry about all the fur! Ra really seems to like you. He’s a friendly sort but I haven’t seen him this friendly to anyone besides me. Anyone approved by my cat must be a good person.”Ren blushes furiously and knocks over his other samples in the tool bucket.Yeah… He’s most definitely a dork. A passionate dork approved by Ra. I have a feeling I’m going to like him a whole lot.