Shaking Up My Thoughts
After the day’s folderol has wound down, it’s time to relax.
Planted habitually on the left side of the couch, my wife places on herself an animal-print blanket she sewed, and the then places on said animal-print blanket three animals: two cats and a dog. I sit on the other side of the sofa and we watch TV, check out a movie, read, or – gasp! – possibly even talk to each other.
If you’re looking for wild parties, we’re not the go-to place. I’m not sure we ever were, but for a fact, I know we’re not now. We’re not exciting – and that’s the way we like it.
Recently, our pattern was most literally shaken up when the ground began trembling.
If you live in earthquake country, you know what comes next. If you don’t, there’s a mental and emotional checklist one goes through at the first inkling of a temblor.
1) Look for others nearby and check their reactions to decide if you’re just dizzy or disoriented, or to get validation that the movement beneath your feet is actually happening.
2) Determine if a large vehicle is rumbling down your street vibrating the entire neighborhood.
3) Check to see if hanging objects are swinging.
4) If indeed you are neither inebriated nor are tanks or eighteen-wheelers patrolling your street, and your favorite dangling knick-knack is making like a pendulum; then commence praying that this now verified earthquake will not be the “Big One.”
5) Feel fear rise up in your throat. Decide if you’re heading for safety. Wait for quake to pass. Realize how powerless you are in the grasp of Mother Nature.
Steps one through four pass blindingly fast.
Video: Narration of What Goes On In a Cat’s Mind
Try as I might to stay away from kitty videos, I could not resist.
A bit of humor for your Friday. Enjoy.
The “cat’scade” effect
It’s difficult to describe a room’s layout without showing an image — so if you’re really, really into following this column (which describes how the furniture in our living room is placed), you might want to draw a big “L” on a piece of paper. Then again, you probably aren’t that compulsive.
Anyway, a chocolate brown three-person couch comprises the vertical leg of the “L”. Perpendicular to it, forming the horizontal leg of the “L” is a recliner, with both facing the entertainment center, which would be by the top of the “L.”
Stick with me. It’ll all come together soon.
On either end of the couch is an end table, usually covered with the common odds and ends that collect over the day. You know, wallets, reading glasses, books, maybe a coffee cup or two.
The room has a picture window, which would be “below “the bottom of the “L” and behind the recliner. In front of said window, and behind the recliner, is a coffee table. That might seem a poor placement — unless cats reside in your house as they do at ours. Therefore, utilization of the table has been ceded to our two ginger felines who sit there, staring out at the street.
Okay, the stage is set. Here we go.
My wife and I sit on the couch to watch television.
I’m sure most couples — for that matter, most families — always sit in the same place. In our case, I without fail place myself at the “top of the L” while she sits on the other end of the couch. Motor, our younger cat, perches on the coffee table. Mini-Schnauzer Jack rests between the two of us on the couch.
Then there’s Tiger; our older cat, Alpha of the four-legged members of the family.
Funny, Too-Cute Video: Kitten vs. a Scary Thing
OK, OK, it’s not earth-shattering! It’s probably not even important. But it is a kitten attacking a tennis ball! How bad could that be? (And it’s got a great sound track to boot!)
Take two minutes and laugh; you know you want to.