Oh, Animals

 Being a cat owner is an interesting venture.

Cats do what they want to do when they want to do it.

 

My particular cat, Queen Antoinette, or Annie for short, is feisty.

I give her pets, and she reaches and pops me.

I hold her, and she turns her head and looks at me like she’s going to attack.

 

She’s also full of energy.

She gets the zoomies and sprints through the house as fast as she can.

She jumps and flips and scootches along the carpet, playing away.

 

But she’s also sweet, especially when she’s sleepy.

Sometimes, she curls up next to me at night, making sure that part of her is touching part of me.

Sometimes, she sits sleepily while I give her pets, especially on her head and neck.

 

And she’s also determined to be the center of attention.

Often, when we’re watching TV, she’ll jump up and sit right in front of the picture.

And often, when either dad or I are working at our desks, she’ll jump up and sit on our work.

She sits on dad’s work so often that he’s had to start putting her outside to complete it!

And on Monday night, when I began my virtual appointment with Joe The Counselor, she jumped in front of the camera so that Joe had to greet both the cat and me!

 

On Tuesday night, as my dad was sitting at the kitchen table,

Annie jumped onto the table and sat down—right on top of his newspaper.

He said, “Look at this. Here we have this whole huge house. And she has to sit right here on my paper while I’m trying to read!”

I laughed. Mom and dad did, too.

Annie sat there as proud as she could be.

 

Cats do what they want to do when they want to do it.

Sometimes, I’d like to be able to do the same!

 

Dear God: Thank you for the joy that animals bring to our lives, and thank you for bringing them into our lives often when we need them most. May we be good stewards of our animals, take care of them, love them, and treat them as your creation. Amen.

 

PS. Bullet the Dog is still hanging on. He comes to the house every day for a brief visit. He is pretty much blind and deaf (although sometimes we think that his hearing is selective!), so he doesn’t know that Annie is in the picture. Annie is very fascinated by Bullet. She watches him eat and drinks from his water bowl when he’s not there. But, as of now, Bullet and Annie haven’t officially met, and we’re not sure they ever will. Feisty Annie might be too much for Old Man Bullet!