sleeping – Page 33

The Long Arm of the Paw

Little Sam likes to sleep tucked down in crevices. The other morning when I woke on my back with my left arm kinked by my side, Sam was snuggled in tight between my arm and chest. If I’m on my side he’ll tuck in behind my knees, and if I roll over slowly enough he’ll move with me in real-time, tucked in tight. When I’m sitting in my comfy chair, I usually drape a blanket over my legs so he can hang down between them, a favorite spot of his ever since we brought him home as a little kitten. He likes to sleep on my chest too, but since this is Scout’s favorite spot, it’s a good thing he doesn’t mind snuggling up elsewhere.

It’s led to many an evening where I’m laying in my chair with Scout asleep on my chest and Sam asleep on my legs, the two stretched out nose-to-tail, me covered in kittens. Since I can’t get up, I make my wife bring me my food and refill my glass. It’s not that I enjoy being waited on, but what else can I do? Wake them?

Emma Sleeps to the Beat of a Different Drummer

After Templeton died a year and a half ago, we went to the Humane Society to pick out another cat. It’s always hard to choose from so many animals who need a good home but I was leaning towards a black cat since I think they are beautiful but had never had one. Emma had lived in a multiple cat household before and I liked the way she was sprawled out as she slept — something Templeton used to do — so we requested to see her after we had selected little Sam. She was more nervous than Sam but seemed sweet so we decided to bring both of them home.

It took a year and a half but now that Emma has discovered the warm beds, she is often curled up in them in a circle like all the other cats. But she also frequently sticks a paw out and on this one occasion had an entire leg sticking askew. Just this afternoon I saw Scout, our tidy sleeper, with one paw sticking out.

The ways of Emma are spreading.

A Super Weekend

This past week we’ve made good progress on our slow introduction of Ellie to our world. She has free reign of the house as long as we’re home and this weekend was allowed to join us in the bedroom for the first time. No cats were eaten!

In fact, the cats continued to sleep on us just as they always have, with Ellie beside our bed on the dog bed my wife made for her. To show you just how well I know my cats, I thought the order of Ellie acceptance would go Scout -> Sam -> Emma. Exactly how it happened, except I got the order backwards.

The other day when my wife had the morning off, she and Ellie joined me on my walk to the train station. When it was time to part ways, I walked off and looked back to see her staring with such sorrow that you’d think I was drifting off to sea. It’s a cold soul that can turn from such a longing gaze but I knew the warm welcome I’d receive at the end of the day. Oh how her tail wags!

One Tired Pup

When my wife woke up this morning, during those first few seconds before you’re fully awake, she thought I smelled so bad that she was going to ask me to start showering before coming to bed. Then she remembered that she had slept downstairs with Sidka and I was upstairs with the cats. Now fully awake, she realized that during the night Sidka had climbed into bed and curled up with her.

She’s long had a variety of stink-based nicknames for me but until now I had always assumed they were in jest …

Sidka had a good first full day with us. She’s definitely fixated on my wife but she’s warming up to me, she even came over and curled up beside me on the couch while I watched the NFL playoffs. I’m not too worried, I had to win over Templeton once upon a time too.

We all took a nice long walk today and Sidka was the perfect lady with the dogs and children she met. She didn’t even try to chase the squirrels in the park so that’s another good sign. Scout and Emma snuck down during the day but were evicted in short order. Sidka and I took another walk tonight in the rain but we didn’t meet anyone interesting this time around.

We also played with her new toys with the rope toy and tennis balls the clear favorites. And as you can see, after all that, she was plumb tuckered. She goes to the vet tomorrow morning for a checkup and then I’m going to work from home to ease her introduction to being left alone while we’re at work.

Shelter from the Storm

The forecast for a winter storm held true and we got quite a bit of snow today. The cats seemed rather agitated during the day but by the evening were ready to settle in for their naps. Scout was holding fast on her favorite winter spot, the wooden grate above the heating vent, so Sam took the vacated window seat.

Even as the snowstorm raged on the other side of the window, Sam finally fell into a deep sleep. I grabbed my camera when I saw that I could frame him between the Christmas lights of the neighbors across the street and the reflection of our Christmas tree in the window. The top picture is lit by the lights of our tree and a room lamp while the bottom one is lit only by the tree lights. They each have a different feel but I like them both, I deliberately left the color warm since I think it works best for this scene.

Weasels

As I mentioned in my previous post, this year I’ve seen three long-tailed weasels (Mustela frenata) after never having seen them before. However they weren’t my first introduction to the weasel family itself, the mustelids. I had a similar experience last year with mink (Mustela vison), I saw three after never having seen them before — unfortunately I haven’t seen them since, I hope I have better luck with the weasels.

And of course I once had daily contact with the gray-tailed weasel (Mustela templeton), the sort of weasel who would act like he wanted to play, then when you got up to follow him, double back and steal your chair. And still look up at you with the purest innocence. That is a weasel.

While the gray-tailed weasel has sadly gone extinct, scientists are studying a mammal that some believe is a new species, the orange-tailed weasel (Mustela sam). The scientific community wants to wait for more data before final classification as a weasel, but two young scientists note that he will push you aside and steal your food, and with manners like that there’s really no reason to wait.

However, another scientist argues that the gray-tailed and orange-tailed weasels are likely one species, the little weasel (Mustela minimus). Or, since the orange creature seems to eat anything that even remotely resembles food if you leave it unguarded for a few seconds, that perhaps it is not a weasel at all but an unusually cute species of goat (Oreamnos terribulus).

Almost Two

Our dear Emma turns two this month, we don’t know the exact day so we’ll celebrate her birthday with mine later in the month. It’s too bad she’s not more of a lap cat, as she’s very affectionate and will sometimes grab hold of your hand while she sleeps.

Foreshadowing

A picture of little Sam asleep on our guest bed back on Christmas Eve, his third day with us. My wife and I alternated time with the new kittens in the guest bedroom and time in the main house with Scout. I thought that my time with the new cats would be reasonably productive while they slept, it seemed like a good time to get back to more serious writing.

However, Sam foreshadowed one of his traits rather early (foreshadowing being a sign of a high quality kitten) in that he wanted to sleep on you if at all possible. And when Sam zonked out, he went into a deep and tranquil sleep and you didn’t want to move for hours, even though your arms and legs were falling asleep. Since he was curled up in my lap, I couldn’t type very well, so I read books or browsed the web instead until it was time to walk to the candlelight service at church.

Rumor has it that I joined Sam in restful slumber a time or two.

In any event I have no complaints, it was both peaceful and comforting. My wife and I had taken time off around Christmas so it was a good time to get the cats acquainted with each other and with us, as well as a good time to transition from the sorrow of losing Templeton to the joy of welcoming new life into our home.

I have many treasured memories of Christmas over my life, but bringing Sam and Emma home will always be one of my fondest.

Tugboats

When I wake up in the morning, Sam is usually the only one in bed with me, tucked up tight behind my knees. Scout is sometimes there but otherwise comes in when she hears my alarm clock ringing. Sometimes, though, all three cats are in bed and tucked up tight next to me or sleeping on me, mooring me to the bed. One such morning I woke up on my back with all three cats sleeping next to me. I carefully shifted over to my side, as if on command all three cats filled in the gaps and curled up again, like furry little tugboats keeping me in bed.

I drifted back to sleep. Good thing it was a weekend.

So Cute

This time, I wanted to emphasize how adorable he was so I zoomed in for the full-on kitten cuteness.