Last night Ms H. was watching tv, lying on the love seat on her belly ... while she lay there cuddled under the blankets our BIG male cat Diesel hopped up on her back ...So, a cat jumped up on her back to sleep - big deal? What of it?
Well, it is kind of a big deal because for the nine years of Ms.H's existence, she and Diesel have HATED each other ...
Diesel is the ONLY cat I've ever seen that could chase a child out of a room!! He would stroll in, look at Ms. H and with a low throaty purr begin crossing the room towards her ... she would look up, yelp and flee for her life.
When he'd pass her in the hall way, he'd take a swipe at her ...
There is no love lost between the two of them ... so last night when Diesel absent mindedly hopped up on her back and began preparing a place to sleep, ALL of us (except Ms. H who hadn't realized WHICH cat it was) were laughing ...
"What's so funny?" asked Ms H, as she turned to look at all of us.
"Oh nothing," we answered as we were desperately trying to find a camera.
It was then, in that moment that both Diesel and Ms.H realized what was going ... She was terrified: "Get him off me !!! Get him off me!!" she shrieked ... For his part Diesel stood his ground, he clearly had mistaken Ms.H for his favourite child Beetle ... and now he wasn't about to yield ...
Eventually the shrieking proved to much to his 11 year old ears ... he retreated (on his terms though) with his dignity intact ... and the rest of us were left laughing at what can happen if you aren't paying attention ... Poor Diesel ... he went to cuddle with his Beetle, only to find he'd plunked himself on his arch-nemesis ...
But with his dignity tarnished slightly, but still intact, he beat a hasty retreat, no doubt to think of ways to punish Ms.H for her insolence ... He'll live to fight another day ...
All of this got me thinking about how much the felines amongst us can teach us ... I've always been fascinated by the BIG cats like Tigers and Lions (especially lions ... lionesses are the ture kings of the beast ... but that's another story) ... but household cats and the big cats can teach us much. I offer the following reflections the cats in my life have taught me:
1) Life is hard, then you nap. Even when life isn’t hard: take time to nap!!
2) Curiousity never killed anything except maybe a few hours, and some small rodents occasionally (but apparently household pets are off limits).
3) When in doubt, cop an attitude.
4) Variety is the spice of life: one day ignore people, the next day annoy them.
5) Climb your way to the top - that's why drapes and pant legs are there.
6) Never sleep alone when you can sleep on someone's face, or take over
their bed … they’ll move to make room for you.
7) Find your place in the sun - especially if it happens to be on that nice pile of warm, clean laundry.
8) We don’t have owners, we have staff to meet our every needs – Never let them think otherwise.
9) A scratching post is whatever happens to be handy … Furniture is for MY comfort not my staff’s.
10) There is nothing in life that can’t be put into perspective after a long and languorous stretch … try it …
1 comment:
I'd love to hear the story about the lioness being the true king of the jungle. Fascinating concept...
And can one find really their place in the sun in a pile of laundry? I suppose if it was freshly washed and just taken off the line ... now that would be a place to be!
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