Thursday, March 18, 2010

Sleep Duty... Changing of the Cat Guard!!



I am a side sleeper and I use two pillows on my side.  One is a body pillow placed between my knees and a small pillow which I put at the top of the body pillow that I rest my arm on.  I always sleep best when there is a cat tucked up with me on the smaller pillow.  My preference is Star.  Star's preference is that I am facing away from my husband.  I think it's a combination of my husband snoring and the fact that he moves around a lot.  Star is a wee bit skittish.  If I'm by myself, he'll stay with me as I turn over, slipping with his Ninja Skills from one side to the next.

I usually turn at least once during the night because of the arthritis and the chronic myofascial pain in my legs & ankles.  Some nights I'll turn over three or four times.  Last night was a six night turn.  Twice I had no cat.  ::sniff sniff::  I started with Star.  Then Mister Kitten showed up.  After that, Zaphoid took a turn followed by Thomas.  This doesn't happen very often.  It reminded me very strongly of the Changing of the Cat Guard that I'll often get in the Spring, Summer, and Fall when the front door becomes a revolving door!  That's why I created this graphic:


link to the organic women's fitted T - it only comes in natural color

In other news, I've got everyone but Thomas on the bed with me.  Thomas has taken his normal role of Aloof Explorer back up again.  ::rolls eyes::  It's Spring and the weather is getting better.  This means birds and field mice.  We have a large hay field behind our house.  The Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde truly appreciates this.  I don't remember if I've told this story before but it's one that sticks in my mind...  Warning!  Warning!  Danger Will Robinson!!  This story contains cats & a field mouse!

My husband and I walked outside one day and noticed that Thomas, Zaphoid, and the late Quigley the Demon Dust Bunny Hunter were sitting in an equilateral triangle.  Odd.  We quietly went a wee bit closer.  Oh my!!  Because they were playing Mouse in the Middle.  Yes, there was a field mouse in the middle of the triangle.  It would start to dash one way only to realize that there was a cat in it's way... back to the center!!  Turning, it would run another way... oops!!  Another cat guards the escape route!  Swiftly back to the middle only to turn and go the last way out.  No!  No!!  Yet another cat!!  (My husband called them Tres Gatos Hombres.  ::snicker:: )  

We must have watched this go on a good five minutes.  Da boys just hung out amused while the field mouse got more and more nervous.  Unfortunately we had to leave so we didn't see how long they played with this poor mousie.  But it reminded me of StarWatcher, who was the last black cat I had before StarWalker (it's not my fault!  you know cats... they picked their names!).  At my old house there was a small spring in the back.  This small spring was the habitat of snakes.  StarWatcher loved to play with snakes.  He would bring them up to the driveway, bat them around & flip them into the air.  That is until I came up and said, "StarWatcher!  Put that back where you found it.  Right this minute!!"  He would sigh, pick up the snake and go put it back.