The Owls Go

Does anyone else have strange cats? Cats always seem to knock things onto the ground with their paws and then suddenly busy themselves immensely so they don't catch your disapproving glance (and if they do, they are masters of the blank, devoid-of-guilt expression) and this is pretty common. However, my cats seem very strange.

Kitten Calliope napping in '06 in my beige Kent apartment

Calliope is the neediest animal I've ever encountered. She goes beyond the status of dog and will not leave anyone (whom she likes) alone. If your are sitting, she will stand in your lap and put her whiskers to your face, staring at you from one centimeter away. She wedges herself between you and books, newspapers, cell phones or laptops in order to accomplish this. If your are lying down, she will lie on your chest and put her two front paws around your neck and put her nose to your nose and just breathe. This creates sneezes, which may deter the average cat but not Calliope. She watches you sneeze, looks hurt that you have diverted your attention from her in order to fulfill an involuntary action, and puts her nose back up to yours. She also does this while sleeping, which I'd never noticed before but Bastian told me he'd been woken up numerous times to see Calliope standing on him with her nose up to his.

Polyhymnia, also as a kitten. We have since moved that ladder.

Polly is a cat-cat, meaning she does not care what you are doing unless it directly benefits her. This is not too strange and she also kneads blankets, also not too strange, but she also licks them. She gives blankets long licks to the point where they develop fuzzies everywhere. Plus, she likes to sit on the toaster, probably because it's warm, but come on? That's disgusting.

This time of year makes me nostalgic and anxious and weepy. Even though it's spring and we have temps in the 60s with nice fresh breezes and the smell of earth, my heart grows heavy and hard to carry. This is a good time of the year to listen to Architecture in Helsinki, Beirut, Bon Iver, Joanna Newsom, Portugal. The Man and Lynyrd Skynyrd, although I could only picture listening to "Sweet Home Alabama" right now.