I am sitting at my desk, with a THERMOS filled with coffee. It isn't ideal, but my cousin put me on to a coffee mug she likes, so I will soon have the problem solved. I ordered two and will update you when they arrive. For now, I am struggling to hold this cumbersome thing, but the coffee it dispenses is hot and cat hair free. That it burns my throat as it goes down is a plus not a deterrent.
Oh, and Copper finally pooped!!! I cannot believe how happy that made me. My life has become so insular. Now, if I can just remember that it is her normal to only poop every three days then I can spare myself some angst in a few days. And, we have run out of crickets. I just bought 150 of the damn things. I have a suspicion they are eating each other.
A strange and interesting (to me) thing happened yesterday. Someone (sane) else might not have even noticed what happened, but I am kind of singularly focused on the animals living here in such a way, little gets past me. This is what happened:
A contractor came by to give us an estimate on refinishing the pool. If I know someone's ETA, I like to secure Jack and Rooney at least behind a gate; sometimes behind a closed door. I want a total stranger to at least see Jack.
The cats were wandering all over the place, but had to stay inside in case the gentleman opened an outside screen door. Well, he and I were on the back porch. Jack was watching us through the bedroom French doors. He never barked, but was alert and every once in awhile hit the door with his paw as much to say, "Look, pal - I'm watching you. I could come through this door if I wanted to. Just sayin..."
Now, I really liked the guy and felt no hint of fear in his presence. Fancy, on the other hand, was convinced the guy was going to kill me. Fancy. I was trying to listen to what the gentleman was saying, while simultaneously keeping an eye on Jack - and now - Fancy, who was pushing on the locked cat door with all his might, trying to get out. My eyeballs were getting such a workout I'm surprised they didn't permanently cross.
Fancy was clearly upset. His eyes turned a fluorescent green and his pupils turned into tiny slits. Cats eyes dilate when they're afraid. Fancy's become snakelike when he's crazed. He kept growling and pushing on random windows. The poor guy, who had been keeping a close eye on Jack, now was nervously eyeing my guard cat. I'm sure he never suspected he was entering the Wild Kingdom when he came through our front door.
I excused myself and went into the house to check on Fancy. Now, I've written before that he "talks" to me. He has even murmured what sound like words, such as, "I don't know" "Meh" "Mama" and "Yes!" in response to various questions posed to him. Well, as soon as I walked through the door, he ran over to me and pushed on my legs and gave me what I can only describe as a sound lecture!
It was oddly familiar. He sounded a lot like my father. Like the time he found out I hitchhiked from college (Edinboro, PA) to home (Scottdale, PA) - a distance of about three hundred miles. Or the time - well you get the idea. I was gob smacked.
Is it possible he sensed danger? Maybe it's as simple as he was just perturbed I was outside and he was locked inside. But it seemed more intense than that. He truly acted like he wanted to protect me.
I decided to let him come with me when I went back out. Fancy is not an attack cat, so I was not worried he would go after the man. Fancy clearly wanted to check him out, though. He got all puffed up and ran over to him. After smelling his shoes and pants, I guess he decided the guy was okay, and simply positioned himself to watch over things. Crazy, yes? Maybe not....
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| Check out the cup next to him..... |
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