A morning with (and without) cats.

[juushika]

The best time to use the litter box is always immediately after it has been cleaned, and the best way to get into a closed room is to scratch at the door for a while and then grow very quiet as if you have finally given up and wandered away, except you must instead sit at the very edge of the door so that the moment it swings open you can dart inside and under the bed and hide there until bribed out with the kibble you came to try to steal.

At least when Spike tries to make a break for freedom he's slow enough that I can just put a hand on his forehead and let him push against me like stubbornness will somehow win. (Newsflash, buddy: it won't, unless it's mine.)

It's cool enough this morning to justify opening the blinds so that the cats can sunbathe, and opening the windows to invite in the best of the cool breezes before they go away. It's supposed to get warm today, and be warmer still by this weekend. But today August and I lay on her blanket in the sun, and she pressed her back to my tummy and let me hold her and think about cats lost and cats here, in all their ridiculous and troublesome and beautiful glory, and how blessed I've been to know them all.