Saturday, December 20, 2008

Hearth and Hame


Ye gods it's been awhile since I've written in here. I should get back in the habit of putting my crazy thoughts and notions down in blog form. My not writing in here was not due to any lack of aforesaid crazy thoughts and notions--like the bills, they just keep coming!--but just slipping out of the habit.

A nice calm, almost sleepy day here in Rogland(pronounced rodge-land). Me seated at the computer nursing a cup o' coffee, my cat Maxine sleeping in "her" chair and my dog Lester sleeping on the floor. On these days where I'm hanging around the house all day, they kinda hover around me-always to be found just a foot or two away.

I've had my dog and cat since 1997, going on 12 years. From puppyhood and kittenhood. Got them separately, the dog first, but within a nine-month period. The same girl got them both for me, the dog near the beginning of our relationship and the cat near the end.

Well, shit happens. At least I got 2 nice pets out of the deal. Being the only other inhabitants of the house, we've developed a closeness over the years- bonded, if you will. We sorta fuse together into one entity on days like this.

And the two quadrapeds have their own bond, though they have their sibling-like squabbles. I remember one evening around bedtime, the cat is sitting on the bed getting petted and fussed over, reveling in all the attention. We hear the toenails-on-wood sound of the dog coming up the stairs and she gets this disgusted expression on her face, as if to say "Oh great! Here comes asshole!".

Just like kids. And strangely enough, my pets seem to like it when I sit between them and pet them both. A completely fair, equitable world..

Cats and dogs can coexist in relative peace- and even be better friends than they'd have you believe-but they're very different animals(despite their biological similarities).

My dog views me as the Master of the House, and is very aware of my approval or disapproval--and I do vary the inflection in my voice to get the point across to him.. He likes to please me, and will come try to cheer me up when he hears me losing at Poker on the computer(based on what he hears out of me, he probably thinks the game is called "Oh Fuck!")which I thought at first was an ill-timed ploy for attention but later realized was his regard for my feelings.

To my cat however, I'm more like her attendant. Waiter, and, when she's in the mood, masseuse. I'm here to take care of her needs. When she feels like being petted, she'll often just sort of throw herself on the floor in front of me, almost coquettishly, as if to say "Okay. Pet me." At mealtime she gives me a couple seconds to get the food in her bowl and then the meowing begins. But, like her canine housemate, she's also loyal, and is a warm purring bundle o' fur when I go to sleep and when I wake up pretty much every day.

I've thought of adding, say, another cat to the mix. One of the Vets(as in Veteranarians)at the place I take Lester and Maxine to advised against it, and I can see how that'd be a major adjustment. No, we already have our balance as far as quadrapeds. Maybe another female biped, at some point, at least as a frequent visitor. Hopefully someone Lester and Maxine approve of as well.


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