About 4:30 p.m. Friday, the guy on TV said the Dallas temp was 101.
I was at my desk; Martha was at her desk in the adjacent room.
She doesn’t like the heat. She does love cats, however.
So, I crept cat-like into her room and quietly asked, “Sweetheart, what’s the most important thing about cats.”
“Their ability to play the piccolo,” she replied confidently
And, suddenly, I had the answer to several questions, ranging from “Hot enough or ya?” and “Is it time for me to leave the room?” to “Does Martha exist in a separate universe?”
All that aside, I’ve picked these two cats for the spotlight of “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.” (In the first photo they are so close you cant tell which one the tail belongs to -- The Senator enjoys sleeping face-down...)
They’ve lived together for years and years and never enjoyed a collegial relationship. In fact, they’ve been downright unpleasant to each other.
Thus, imagine my surprise to be able to capture the tabby, Deputy Chief Kittie Leigh Johnson, and the older gentleman, The Senator, snoozing together as if they’d met up at happy hour at a state political convention. Not that such a thing would happen, of course.I've been cleaning out my office and stacking stuff until I can get to it, and Kittie Leigh and The Senator decided thee two piles were good places to camp.
Their stories are similar — both showed up on our front porch. Kittie Leigh was a feral kitten; The Senator stopped by for the breakfast buffet during a campaign swing and stayed.
At times through the years, they both have taken up editing positions as I’ve been attempting to write. Not together, you understand. Different cats at different times — I’ve worked in newsrooms that, now and then, would resemble a catfight. These two are rank amateurs compared to newsrooms when newspapers were vibrant elements of the information generation.
Back to the cats: They’ll sit on my lap or on my leg and lean on my arm while watching the light-speed typing I do on the screen. Neither is happy with my sloppy typing and periodically will slap my hands with a claws-out paw just to remind me to pay attention to what I’m typing.
As you may suspect, neither of these cats is a pedigreed feline. We know that Kittie Leigh came from an unfixed momma in the neighborhood years ago. The Senator (named for the plug pattern at his hairline) is a bit of a miracle cat: He arrived without tomcat testicles. Such a thing may never have happened before in our part of Oak Cliff.
May I call your attention to the penultimate photograph? What is that huge growth emerging from the white stripe on The Senator’s back? It is not a bulbous growth. He fell sleep in front of the bowling pin my kids and grandkids presented to me after one particularly relaxing afternoon of kegling.
(Click on the photo to make it grow.)
Back to the importance of cats So, “Their ability to play the piccolo”? Perhaps it is the most important thing about cats. But, as a veteran catfan, I lean toward the quiet companionship of grown-up cats. To me, it’s a compliment when you pick up a cat and he or she responds with a wonderful purr.
However, in doing research on Martha’s response, I did find a video of a guy and his cat putting a piccolo through its paces. Click HERE . If you listen all the way to the end, it may be the longest time you’ve ever knowingly listened to a piccolo entertaining a cat.
[SEND US PHOTOS of your sleeping dogs and napping cats and we’ll post their stories and their photos in our long-running weekend feature, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap. That’s my dog Porche Noel, a sleeping dog who has no concept of a piccolo. Send your photos and stories to [email protected]. You’ll inspire others to adopt animals to make their houses real homes. And you’ll inspire insomniacs to believe that they, too, can get some rest if they can just find the right bowling pin to induce sleep. Oh, don’t apply the pin! That would be wrong — there’s a difference between “unconscious” and “asleep.” I’m blaming this entire edition on the heat.]
— Offer sleeping advice or piccolo tips by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected]. —-
