I was napping comfortably in my “Comfy Chair.” As I was dreaming about the days long past when I could enjoy eating a “Sanders Hot Fudge Sunday,” with butter pecan ice cream, I began to feel a strange sensation on the top pf my pate. Yes, I have a bald head. My body has developed an affinity to growing hair in many new places as I have gotten older, but not on the top of my head. I do save money not going to the barber shop, but I miss the conversations.
As I gradually advanced up the stages of deep REM sleep, I noticed a feeling like sandpaper being dragged across my head. As I awoke to consciousness, the feeling crystallized into reality, it our cat Angel licking my head. My cat’s tongue is rough and now I know what a piece of wood feels like as it is being sanded. I have been a dog lover and owner as far back as I can remember. Lots of people love dogs and lots of people love cats. When I was 14, my sister-in-law (she was a lawyer) found a cat at her door, took her in and then looked for someone to adopt kitty. At my house we were between dogs, and with my parents blessing, I was able to adopt. It only lasted a couple of days though. I enjoyed kitty, I cleaned up the litter box and all that. It was July, hot, 90 degrees and we sat down to have dinner. No air-conditioning, that was added after all the kids left the house onto their life’s journey. For some reason, kitty decided to jump off the ground and clamp on to my shirtless back with all four claws.
Startled, I jumped up and breathlessly stated: “Cat-Off, cat-off!” my dad jumped up and grabbed the cat around the middle and pulled, my skin was pulled back off my body and snapped back with the cat still attached. Dad then flicked his finger on the cat’s nose, and it released its claws, and dad placed him on the ground, immediately phoned my sister-in-law and returned the cat. I guess kitty was just being loving to me, but not being cat owners, we did not understand her language.
Back to today and Angel licking my head. I lifted her off the top of the couch and placed her on the cushion next to me. She immediately sat down, I stroked her fur, and she began to lick my hand and rubbed her face on me. I guess she was marking me as her own human. I hoped she was not rubbing me to get off the mouse DNA from her lunch. Next, she gave me a soft, but definite bite. I guess it was a love bite! Cats do that to show their affection. It reminded me of Wharf from the Star Trek show explaining the kind of rough play/fight that the Klingon’s do when courting. I prefer just purring from kitty instead of the “Love Bite!”
We enjoyed our cats at the barn, and office at the ranch, but when my daughter moved into the office after coming back from college to live there, she wanted to put Angel (Kitty’s real name) out into the winters cold. As she was the office or indoor cat, my wife decided (without consulting with me) to bring Ange home. She has lived here at home for 8 years. We have always had 2 dogs, so she has picked up some doggie habits. When she is outside, she comes when I call her. When we cookout she likes a bit of hot-dog, like my pups. She comes running for whipped cream when she hears the can being shook. Like the dogs, when it’s time to eat, she follows my wife around meowing quite loudly to let her know to feed her. She loves sitting by the fireplace in the winter next to the dogs. She lays on the tile floor in summer next to the dogs. She drinks water out of the dog’s water bowl, even if she has her own bowl.
I am a dog lover, and I guess now I am a cat lover too. Please Angel, don’t wake me by licking my head when I nap. Good Kitty!
“Remember, every day is a gift! Some are just a little more fun to open than others. – © Joel M. Vernier 05/24/2021 Author of: “The Guinea Pig In The Freezer.” joelmvernier@aol.com
