Oxbow's World

Sorry about the long gap in posts again. You see, I’ve been away — at charm school. Ha! Just kidding! But my pose here did make me think of that.

Truth is, I don’t need charm school, because I already move more gracefully than most creatures on Earth. As for some of the finer points of becoming a society cat, well, I don’t really care where the rain stays in Spain, because when the rain falls here in northeastern Connecticut, I’m staying out of plain sight, under the bed. More on that tomorrow …

 

Sometimes I like to mix up my routines, if for no other reason than to keep Those Two guessing. A guy can become too predictable if he’s not careful.

And so it was that I recently ended up declaring Mama G’s nightstand one of my new favorite places to hang out. Mama G found this out the hard way, when she woke up one night to find me on the nightstand drinking out of the glass of water she keeps there. She was a bit horrified by this discovery, and wondered how long that had been going on! Ha, I’m not going to tell! She quickly switched to a water bottle with a lid. Occasionally I’ll lick the condensation on the outside of it, but she’s none the wiser.

Sometimes I sit on the nightstand during the day, too. I don’t like to let an object’s name restrict my creative use of it.

So who knows what next week will bring, but for now, I’m standing fast.

 

I’ve often heard humans say, “Every day feels like Groundhog Day.” Now I’m not really sure what they’re getting at with that expression, but around here, every day really is Groundhog Day. And that’s because this guy has taken up residence in our backyard:

And I have to say, he’s kind of freaking me out!! I thought my claws were sharp, but his are ferocious-looking! Sometimes when I’m sitting in the bedroom window we have staring contests, which I usually win, if only because I can withstand boredom better than most living creatures.

Those Two think he’s cute. They refer to him as “Chucky,” since groundhogs are also known as woodchucks. The name was Mama G’s idea. Mama C laughed at it at first, saying it wasn’t very original, but conceded that it was better than “Woody.” Sometimes when they’re out in the backyard they call him, trying to lure him out from his home underneath the shed, as if he knows his name. Silly humans!

Maybe someday I’ll embrace the idea of thinking a giant rodent in the backyard is cute, but for now I’m not having any of it!

What an exciting summer it’s been! Last month I finally got to meet my godmother, and this past weekend I got to meet my number-one blog fan, Barbara Bourgette, or Babs as she’s known to her friends. Those of you who read not only this blog but the comments as well will no doubt recognize her name. Babs has said she looks forward to reading my posts and that they usually make her laugh or smile. And that’s the whole point!

Anyway, I had been sitting in the front window for a good hour, awaiting Babs’ arrival. And right on cue when she pulled into the driveway, I dashed under the spare bed, as I usually do when company arrives! But Babs knew that was to be expected of me and she didn’t take it personally.

Those Three sat at the kitchen island talking, eating and drinking for a while. And then I decided to come out. OK, I confess: I heard the bag of treats being shaken. But you know, there was a time when even the promise of treats wouldn’t have lured me from my hiding spot.

So Babs fed me some treats and talked to me for a bit, and then I just decided to hang out with them for a while, which was something new for me.

Mama G took a bunch of photos, but they were pretty bad. She has a cheap phone and might have been feeling the effects of that beverage they were drinking, too. Babs, however, took a beautiful photo of me. That’s probably because she’s a professional photographer. I am a handsome subject, aren’t I?

Thanks for a fun visit, Babs! At this rate, I could be well on my way to becoming a party animal!

 

Whoa, I see from the date of my last post that I have been quite the slacker again. My bad! I have a little story for you today, though.

Recently, Those Two had a new piece of furniture delivered. As you know, I’m not fond of delivery people, service people, company in general, fireworks, thunderstorms … well,  you get the idea. So usually when the doorbell rings, I promptly disappear. Sometimes I even disappear when the doorbell is on a TV show or movie, but a guy can’t be too careful these days. I often amaze my mamas with my ability to find new and clever hiding places. But this time, after the new love seat was in place and the delivery guys long gone, Those Two had a good laugh over my choice of hiding spots.

All right, so I obviously have never seen the movie Psycho, but fortunately this isn’t the Bates Motel. I have seen enough horror, though, to know that you should never, ever say, “I’ll be right back.”

Step 1: Think briefly about facing the day ahead. Nope, not gonna do it!

Step 2: Roll over and begin to contemplate the possibilities.

Step 3:  Perform a little light stretching and open one eye.

Step 4: Begin grooming. You never know who you might run into!

Step 5: Reassess the situation.

Step 6: Who am I kidding? Forget about it!

Well yesterday certainly was a big day in my life. I finally got to meet my godmother Joyce! Now I knew all along that she had to be a very sweet woman, since she’s sent me several gifts, including that beautiful personalized water bowl that I enjoy every day. But yesterday I learned that she is also a very patient woman.

She and her husband arrived in the afternoon bearing even more gifts for me and, true to form, I promptly hightailed it under the spare-room bed. As you regular readers already know, I can be very shy and socially awkward. Not to be deterred, Joyce decided to get down to my level, literally, and try to understand what was going on with me.

Much to my delight, Those Two were a bit embarrassed, because the spare bed is the one bed that they store things under. Joyce, of course, didn’t care about that, only about me. She spent a lot of time down there with me. Her soothing words of reassurance, her gentle touch and the frequent treats she offered eventually won me over, and I emerged from under the bed. Emboldened, I trotted out to the kitchen and spotted one of the presents they had brought me: cat grass! I love cat grass!

As I munched away, I didn’t even notice that Joyce had once again joined me on the floor. And then our eyes locked and finally I understood: she loves me and there was nothing to be afraid of! It was quite the moment for both of us!

Thanks, Joyce, for a very special day!

We cats like our routines. I suppose humans do, too, to some extent, but we are extremely fond of them. So when something suddenly seems out of the ordinary, we can become pretty unsettled. Which brings me to Mama G …

She used to disappear for long stretches on most days, and although I missed her, I enjoyed my alone time, too. Now she seems to always be around, constantly in my face, talking in that silly voice that humans use with pets, blasting classic rock music and making other human sounds that can interfere with a good catnap. Doesn’t she have a job to go to or something?

Cats can also be pretty adaptable, so I’ve adjusted my routine to her new one. Most afternoons I can now be found under the bed.

I love Mama G dearly and enjoy her company, but sometimes a guy just needs a quiet place to chill out and think a little.

I must apologize to my loyal fans (Hi Babs!), because I haven’t been posting much lately. You see, I’m a cat, and we put the “laze” in “lazey.” What, it’s not spelled that way? That doesn’t make any sense!

Anyway, there are other factors that could account for my recent lack of productivity. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s summer, and when it gets hot, I just shut down.

Mama G also recently shared an article with me about traits orange cats are known for. Yup, you guessed it, laziness is among them! Apparently we are even lazier than the average cat, and it doesn’t get much lazier than that.

I’ve set the bar so low, I have become the bar!

I just love the morning after a good rain. Not only does it smell nice and fresh outside, but it gives me an opportunity to provide a useful service: clearing the window screens of water. I stay well-hydrated and I get rid of those pesky droplets that obscure my vision of the neighborhood birds and cats. And Those Two think I’m cute to boot!

Based on the forecast, I think I’m going to have my work cut out for me this week!