“So, what are we going to hear about today?” Kiki was already stretched out on the sofa, looking up at me expectantly.
Hearing her voice, Allen’s head appeared from around the side of the blue chair, from where he had been chasing a round piece of crumpled foil. “Oh, goody. I want to hear, too.”
“How about if we read about what some people have said about cats?” I suggested.
“Well, I like what that little girl said. ‘Cats are the greatest!’ What can anyone else say that is better than that?” Allen looked at me a little dubiously.
“Some of these people were pretty famous, and I just thought it might be interesting to hear what their ideas were.”
“Umm…did they say good things? I don’t want to hear people say bad things. We are pretty good animals, you know.”
“I know that, my dears.” I reached over and stroked their warm, silky little bodies. “Let’s just give it a go and see, O.K.?”
“Why not?” mewed Kiki, nonchalantly licking her paw to show she was brave, “Let’s go for it.”
“Albert Schweitzer was an Alsatian-German/French theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. He once said,
‘There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.’
I certainly have to agree with him. I think an ideal way to relax is to lie back, and listen to music I like, while enjoying the warmth of a furry kitty curled up and purring on my lap. Here’s a picture of a kitty who made her own music.”
“Hey, didn’t we just see that cat a couple of weeks ago?”
“Well, yes that was the cat in the Limerix diary who liked to sing in the bathroom.
“Well, I like to sing, too,” Kiki piped up.
“Yes, I think I have heard you both singing,” I said.
“Would you like us to sing to you now?” Allen seemed too eager.
“Uh, maybe later. Let’s look for some more quotes first. Jules Verne, who wrote, among other things, a book called Around the World in Eighty Days, once said,
‘I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through.’”
Kiki sounded interested. “Well, I would sure like to try that. Those clouds up there in the sky look so soft and poufy. I could probably take a nap on one of them, right there with the sun shining on me and keeping me warm.”
“How would we get up there, silly?” Allen asked her.
“I’m sure Mom could help us. Right, Mom?”
“Um…I’m not too sure about that…and definitely not today.”
Kiki reached out to sharpen her claws on the arm of the chair. I ever-so-gently wrapped my hand around her paw and stroked it.
“So who else talked about cats?” She tucked her paw under her and looked at me. Thank goodness they were easily distracted.
“A French novelist named Collette once said,
‘There are no ordinary cats.’”
“Now there was a smart woman,” Allen opined.
“Yes, she was very well-known, probably the most famous for writing Gigi, and she was also a mime, an actress, and a journalist. She was, obviously, a lover of cats.
“There’s an amusing story about her. Once, when she was in the United States, she saw a cat sitting in the street. She went over to talk to it, and the two of them mewed at each other for a friendly minute. Colette turned to her companion and exclaimed, ‘Enfin! Quelqu’un qui parle français.’ (At last! Someone who speaks French!)”
“Wow! That’s amazing! Did that cat really speak French?”
“I suspect that the cat spoke cat language, just like you do.”
“Do you think that woman could understand us?”
“I’m willing to bet that anyone who loves cats could understand you as much as I do. Of course, sometimes, I do have a hard time translating what you are trying to tell me.”
“You know when we want treats, though, right?”
“Yes, my furries, I usually do.” Before they got too entrenched in the idea of treats, I moved on. “Here’s a quote from Eleanor Farjeon, who wrote the song, Morning is Broken, and she was also an English author of children’s books.
‘It always gives me a shiver when I see a cat seeing what I can’t see.’”
“Why does that bother her?” they asked.
“I know that it kind of gives me the chills when I see your eyes following something that is dropping down from the ceiling, and I brace myself for something scary to land on my shoulder, or when you seem to see something outside the window in the dark of night.”
“Both of those things kind of scare me.”
“But wouldn’t you be glad we were warning you so you could escape danger?”
“Hmmm…Perhaps so. Somehow, I’ve never been able to get past the scary part. Let’s find a quote that’s a little more calming.”
“Mark Twain was a famous American author, whose real name was Samuel Clemens.”
“There you go again.” Allen was speaking up. “There’s another person who uses two names. I still think that is strange. After all, I’m famous now, and I still only use one name. What did this Samuel/Mark person have to say?”
“He said,
‘If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.’
I guess he didn’t have such a high opinion of some of the people around him.”
“Hmmm,” Kiki mused, “I wonder what that would look like, a critter that was part person and part cat.”
“Maybe like that picture?”
“Oh, yuck. I don’t think I would want to look like that,” Allen meowed. “Who would want to pet me if I didn’t have nice, smooth fur everywhere?”
“I like you just as you are, Allen. You, too, Kiki.”
Purring throbbed from their sweet little bodies.
“Someone once said,
‘Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this.’”
“It certainly makes sense,” said Allen. “We were obviously meant to rule wherever we are.”
“Were all cats gods, as, of course, they should have been?” asked Kiki. “Look at this picture on your computer. It looks like this person is worshipping a cat.”
“Unfortunately, that picture has no caption, so I don’t know the story around it. I’m pretty sure it’s not from ancient Egypt.
“As I understand it, cats in general were not actually gods in the Egyptian culture, but were considered as vessels that the gods chose to inhabit because they wanted to display cat-like qualities. Cats protected their people from harm (pests) and also provided companionship. Cats were so important to the ancient Egyptians that they were said to accompany their owners into the afterlife.”
“Check out this one. Here’s a funny comment by someone named Arthur Bridges. I’m not sure who he is, but he seems to understand one trait of kitties.”
“Uh-oh,” Allen groaned. “That sounds like someone who is about to complain about something.”
“Oh, not really complain,” I told him. “Just observe what his cat does.”
“A cat isn’t fussy–just so long as you remember he likes his milk in the shallow, rose-patterned saucer and his fish on the blue plate. From which he will take it, and eat it off the floor.”
“Well, of course it matters what kind of dish is used to serve my food. Besides, sometimes I need to play with the food a little bit, and that is easier on the floor. I mean, isn’t that why the floor is right there, next to the dish?”
“I never thought of it that way, Allen,” I answered. “But maybe you are right.”
“Here are some really nice things that people have said about cats. I think you’ll like these.
“From the great Leonardo Da Vinci an Italian man of the High Renaissance, who had many talents and achievements, among them a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect, comes this:
‘The smallest feline is a masterpiece.’”
My cats were smiling.
“And Charles Dickens, an English novelist in the 1800’s, who wrote many books and stories, including A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and The Pickwick Papers, said something nice about cats, too.
‘What greater gift than the love of a cat?’”
Allen and Kiki were loving this.
“I’ll close for today with a quote from a Belgian-American poet and novelist of the twentieth century, Mary Sarton, who said something that I know for sure is true:
‘Time spent with cats is never wasted.’”
“Truly my time spent snuggling and just being with you is some of the most special time of my life,” I assured them.
And we all enjoy sharing our time and thoughts with you, our dear friends. Stay well. Farewell for now.
