Oxbow's World

Sometimes I like to play with green beans. OK, I like to play with a lot of things, but beans are especially fun. Often when Those Two bring home beans, they’ll throw me one and I’ll amuse myself for a while by batting it around on the floor, or stabbing it with a claw and tossing it into the air.

Well the other day Mama G was sitting on the sofa, snapping those pointy ends off a fresh batch of beans while I watched, and she tossed me a nice plump bean. But suddenly I had no interest in this game. Then she tossed me another. Nope, not going for that one either. She was puzzled.

Now I’m not sure what got into me, but I think it was because this all felt too easy. I didn’t want the beans that were handed to me. I wanted the other beans. You know, the ones that Those Two intended to eat.

Why is it that things that are not allowed just appear all that more enticing? I’m sure you humans can relate, since I’ve heard that your story started with forbidden fruit.

Who knows how I’ll react next time. Sometimes it’s just a state of bean.

 

 

My favorite season in New England has arrived! And why do I love fall? Well, first of all, I hate the summer heat, so it’s nice not to be laying around the house trying to breathe (my mamas were too cheap to invest in central air conditioning, so some summer days can be pretty challenging for me). I also love the changing of the leaves, when they turn from green to my favorite color — why of course, it’s orange!

But most of all, I love to watch and listen to the migrating Canada geese. We live next to a cornfield that apparently is the equivalent of JFK Airport for the geese. I just love to hear them honking, and I like to watch them fly in their trademark “V” formation.

It’s too bad that so many humans, particularly golfers and pilots, regard the geese as a nuisance. Did you know that they fly in that formation so that the lead goose reduces the wind resistance for the others, and that they trade positions, so that no one goose becomes overly tired? Amazing stuff! If only humans could learn to cooperate with one another so well.

I know there’s a lot of entertaining stuff on the Internet, especially on YouTube, because I often hear Mama G laughing like crazy while sitting in front of the computer all by herself. Or maybe she is simply crazy, but I don’t want to go there. So the other night I just had to investigate the laughter, and I couldn’t believe my eyes! She was watching a video of a cat riding a Roomba, one of those robot vacuum cleaners that clean the room while you’re away, or at play.

As you know, vacuum cleaners and I don’t get along, so I just can’t imagine what sort of self-respecting cat would want to ride one, even though the Roomba is much quieter than the Hoover that terrorizes me on a weekly basis. But it turns out there were many videos out there of other cats riding these vacuum cleaners, including some in strange costumes. Who knew so many cats have a vacuum cleaner fetish?

My favorite of these videos was this one, whose headline describes the cat as riding the Roomba “like a boss!”  Man, this cat is either glued to that basket, or has achieved the ultimate state of Zen!

This whole Roomba business made me feel, well, normal — whatever that is these days.

As my faithful readers know, Mama G is on a quest, so far unsuccessful, to make me famous. Well there’s a lot of competition out there, with plenty of cats pitching cat products such as food and litter. But like me, Mama G likes to think outside the box, so she came up with an idea recently that I like.

First, a little background. Mama G hates to shop, but if she has one favorite store, it’s Home Depot. Most women, as I understand it, like to hit clothing or shoe stores when they’re feeling a bit down, or just feel like shopping. Not Mama G. She likes to head for Home Depot for a new power tool, or maybe just some wood and nails to build something that she’s dreamed up in her head. There’s a lot going on up there, I think.

She recently came back from a trip to the store and realized that there is no paint color that looks like me. I agree: None of the samples even comes close! And that’s a little depressing to me, because we look to cues in the world to discover who we are.

So, Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr, are you listening? How about adding Oxbow Orange to your palette?

 

The Human says …

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Oxbow says …

It’s 7 a.m. somewhere!

 

Well Those Two just returned from a vacation and I have to say, they brought some delightful scents back with them. They rented a seaside cottage in Sequim, Washington, which happens to be the “lavender capital of North America.” Throw in a couple of hikes and a woodstove fire and their belongings were smelling quite delicious by the end of the week.

As I “hit” on different odors, I got to wondering why we hear so much about drug- and bomb-sniffing dogs, but never cats, even though we, too, have great senses of smell. A little Internet research gave me no concrete answer, although the consensus seemed to be that cats are “uncooperative,” “untrainable” and “lazy.”

Well I’m insulted! OK, I can be a bit lazy, but uncooperative and untrainable? You throw in the right incentives and I’ll cooperate and train with the best of them!

It doesn’t really matter, because I don’t want to work for The Man anyway. And now if you’ll excuse me, I think I smell a nap coming on.

 

Today I’d like to wish a happy anniversary to two very special ladies, my mamas. They’ve been married 12 years now, and I shudder to think how different my life could have been had they not met.

To hear Mama G tell it, she was never a cat person until she met Mama C, who had a cat named Carrot at the time. Once the two of them locked eyes, it was love at first sight! Mama G and Carrot, I mean. Mama G doesn’t believe in love at first sight among humans, although she admits to being pretty darn smitten the day she met Mama C.

Mama C never really bought Mama G’s I’m-not-a-cat-person mentality, because she noticed that Mama G’s photo albums contained lots of photos of cats … friends’ cats, unknown cats, and even a stray cat that Mama G temporarily adopted during a camping trip. So Mama C knew that cats held a special place in Mama G’s heart all along.

That’s the thing about special relationships, I think: they help you learn about yourself and grow. I’ve learned a lot and grown since I began my special relationship with Those Two, and I’ve never been happier.

Have a great day, mamas!

 

 

I feel bad for Those Two sometimes. They try so hard to keep me entertained, buying all kinds of fancy, expensive toys (the remote-controlled mouse being perhaps their most laughable effort). Truth is, when it comes to play, I’m a pretty simple guy. A bottle cap, for instance, will keep me entertained for hours. Shoelaces? Oh yeah! Bags? Bring ’em on!

Sometimes in life, simpler is better. So a note to my mamas: I know you love me, so stop trying so hard.

That was pretty over-the-top sweet of them, though, to make such extensive use of cat camouflage in their home decor.

I have to say, I’m not really sorry to see the summer fade away. I don’t like to be hot. There is, however, one part of summer that I’ll really miss, and that’s the locally grown corn that Those Two bring home throughout the season.

I love to help them shuck it! I just sense when they have some of it. You might say I have a real ear for it. I stalk them in the kitchen as they prepare dinner, then leap up onto the island at just the right moment and lend a hand. Or at least some teeth.

I’ve heard Mama G say that puns are the lowest form of humor. I think there’s a kernel of truth in that.