BENEATH THE SPREADING CHRISTMAS TREE...

EDITION OF DECEMBER 28-29, 2019
[PetPowellPress] It has taken me a long time but I think I finally understand why people began to hang their stockings by the chimney with care rather than put gifts under the tree. The cats claimed ownership of the tree.

For this receding Christmas/approaching New Year edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap, we aim the spotlight at two housecats, a beautiful girl named Monet and a handsome boy named Simon — both former feral kittens in Dallas.
They adapted to the ways of humans quite easily.
[LARRY ASIDE: Don’t pretend you’ve already taken your Christmas tree down and stored it or trashed it. In the age of artificial trees, the ornaments are sometimes undisturbed until all the relatives go back home, right?]

We once left a Christmas tree up for several months — for some reason we liked getting home from work and seeing the tree. We won’t do that with this tree. This elegantly flocked tree was a spur-of-the-moment purchase in a half-off sale at a nursery along about the time Santa was putting the harnesses on the reindeer. 

A couple of mornings after Christmas I walked past our tree — expecting to see empty space where gifts were once delicately balanced — and I saw our big pillowy cat name Simon snoozing under the limbs.
To his left, I saw a dark figure curled up — that was the multicolored, delicately designed Monet. She adapted quite well to not being a scrambling front-porch feral colony kitten. (We’d bottle-fed Simon after his mom abandoned his 4-week-old yowling self in the shrubbery. Money just walked in when we opened the door and said, “Hello, kitten.”)
Those stories — like so many Christmas tales — have been told before. But, for some reason, this year, seeing those cats snoozing under the Christmas tree, made be feel good about having them in the house. Not every cat born “in the wild” will find a home. And that is too bad because people who deny a cat a place in their heart are missing out on a relationship with a noble creature who might even adore them.
So, looking at those two cats enjoying some naptime under a flocked Christmas tree reminds me of the quote from James Herriot, author of All Creatures Great and Small.
He didn’t know our cats, but here’s a quote that explains why our cats decided to nap on a warm blanket that doubled as a “tree skirt.” Mr. Herriot wrote, “Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.”
 You can see that on Simon’s face. He’s connoisseuring that comfort all over his face!
[Send photos of your napping cats and sleeping dogs and any other slumbering beastie in your life to [email protected] and we’ll post them — we’ll CELEBRATE them in our weekly weekend feature Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap. You’ll be showing other people who don't have a cat that a home is enhanced by these wonderful companions. And you’ll be helping insomniacs have faith that they, too, can get some sleep, if they can just squeeze under the right limbs of the right tree at the right time of year. So, yeah, Happy New Year, y’all, from readlarrypowell.com.]
— Offer cat quotes or dog quotes or tree advice by clicking on ‘comment’ below or emailing [email protected]. —-