Caturday: Dexter's Gaze

There is, incidentally, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person. - Dan Greenberg

Caturday just might be Dexter's favorite day of the week. It's one of the few days when his two favorite peeps might just decide to stay home, finally. Some people think cats are loner types who prefer their own company. That has not, however, been my experience with cats.

I have been blessed to have two cats of my own since arriving at adulthood: first, orange Gremlin, who pretty much raised me; then, gray and black and white Dexter. Both have been huge tabbies who follow me around, preferring to keep me within a short paw's reach, if not closer. Each began life as a tiny, adorable kitten of chaos and ended up a big boy, topping out at around 20 pounds. That's a real armful.

On this particular day, my husband and I made a quick run into town to buy groceries and gas up my car. So we weren't home quite the entire day. But we more than made up for being gone for a bit with the offering we brought along home: two brand new boxes, hooray!

This is the face of a cat who has been playing with his new boxes for the past half-hour. He is almost done with the play session and will be looking to settle down somewhere soon. Preferably somewhere cozy and comfy, with a blankie. Preferably, under a blankie with ME.

I will crawl onto our bed, sitting upright against a big pillow, and cover myself with a blankie. Dexter will jump up and settle himself between my legs under the blankie and put his warm, white paws snugly against my leg. And I will sigh quietly, feeling a deep, deep peace that my soul only finds when I am touching a cat. It has always been this way between cats and me.

Dexter will purr quietly and eventually fall asleep, curled up, dreaming and twitching against my leg. I will read a book, or make a list, or read the paper (or even make a Blip - yes, how I have described this scenario is exactly how we are sitting together right now, even as I make this Blip from a picture I took yesterday).

We will sit together for a long time, snuggled up beneath our blankie with the Christmas tree lights on, and be happy. (Yes, Christmas still lives here, and both of our little trees are still up even as we head into February: I'm a rebel that way.) Then again, we are always happy when we are together. He's my little buddy, the fur "child" of our tiny family, my best Tabby-friend.

The song to accompany this image of my favorite Tabbycat is Pete Townshend, with A Friend is a Friend.