|
|
Our best entertainment is a live cat video—Pixie skittering wherever she pleases, as fast as a speeding bullet–when she is not supine and as relaxed as we only hope to be. There is only one place in our home that she cannot get up to and routinely goes to all of them. One result is that there is no safe place for our plants, and the dirt graced our kitchen floor until we moved them to higher roosts.
Of course, we bought a kitty tower which sits by a west facing door in the family room. She deigns to use it when the sun is warming her aerie. We have never seen her scratch the tower. She prefers the nearby recliners. She rarely uses the ladder and cave space. She jumps from chair arm to nest. In the living room, she has a hammock by the south facing window she uses sometimes when we are both in the room. Other times she hides under beds or in places we have not yet discovered. That is also where she stores pieces to her toys.
Part of her workout studio includes the wine cabinet some seven plus feet up. She leaps from a nearby bookcase to dig in the flower dirt. She also leaps on top of a narrow, flat screen television and from there to a narrow shelf. When she wants to rest, she lies on the gas stove when it’s not on. I infer that she finds the grates cool.
Pixie has an all-knowing look on her face while Stephen seems to be contemplating the nature of his cat. Photo’s courtesy of Steve Aldrich
Our dressers are part of her exercise equipment. So is our bed, especially when we use the wand with a fake fur piece at the end. She routinely walks along the tops of our chairs and settee, sometimes resting there, even when we are sitting there. A sometime part of her studio is a 19th century secretary that has decreased in value per Antiques Roadshow examples. The top is eight feet high. When we moved the cat tower nearby during Christmas season, she routinely spent time aloft.
All of this is amidst a collection of small toys that my good wife purchased and now litter our floors. Pixie plays with them if we move them for her. She cannot be bothered to keep most of the toys moving. We will never run out of them unless they all end up under a bed or chair.
Someone has to protect the wine and Pixie seems pretty relaxed as she carries out her sparkling duty.
Pixie regularly uses our laps as transit points on her way to somewhere else. Like all cats, she does what she pleases. Sometimes, she pleases to lie in one of our laps. That makes it all worth it. And she sleeps on our bed, never chasing toes but often burrowing under the spread for hours at a time.
Of course, having a pet is a bit like being a parent. When we go somewhere, we must ask, “What about Pixie?” We have a travel kennel we never travel with, yet partly because our neighbor lives in the building and loves Pixie a little bit at a time. At one point, Joanne kept finding Pixie in her unit. We finally discovered a hole behind the dryer that gave her access through the bathroom. When we sealed the hole, Pixie’s unauthorized visits to Joanne ended.
We will never part with her voluntarily. Given our ages, she will likely outlive us. That is okay. Too many prior pets have died or left home to some animal burying grounds.
Just to be sure, though, should we adopt a rescue dog for a playmate?
Steve Aldrich is a retired Hennepin County lawyer and mediator, serving as judge from 1997-2010. He and Myrna moved here in 2016. He likes to remember that he was a Minnesota Super Lawyer before being elected to the bench. Now he is fully vaccinated. Steve really enjoys doing weddings, the one thing a retired judge can do without appointment by the Chief Justice. He enjoyed officiating at a Zoom wedding with the congregation in Cook County, White Bear Lake, and Norway. Flowers and brickbats may be addressed to the editor or stevealdrich41@gmail.com.
Leave a Reply