My daughter's cats

My daughter is out of town on a business trip, and her husband leaves for work at an incredibly early hour. So I went over there to make sure the granddaughters got out of bed and off to school on time.

I have cats in the barn, but I don't spend a lot of time watching them. Therefore, when I am around house cats, I find them very enjoyable to observe.

I'd been at my daughter's for about fifteen minutes doing my morning reading when I saw both felines appear at the top of the stairs to the basement, where they sleep with my granddaughters.

They circled me, coming ever closer. The alpha-cat, a solid-colored, orange-yellow male, bravely came right to my feet and sniffed my knee. Then he jumped on the couch beside me and smelled my right hand carefully and thoroughly.

Having inspected me for about five minutes, he headed to the opposite end of the couch and curled up, obviously satisfied that I wasn't going to harm him. I went back to my reading, glancing down at the comfortable cat every minute or so. It took a few glances before it hit me that he was curled up on my coat.

"Hey, get off my coat," I exclaimed. You can see from the look he gave me that he had no intention of giving up his spot. I had to pick him up to retrieve the coat.

He went elsewhere, and the female took his spot.


She's rather shy. While her brother was scoping out the stranger, she stayed in what she considers to be a safe zone beneath a chair.

She did come out to inspect my one-year Bible; I told her she ought to read it, that it would probably do her good. But after a few sniffs, she was done.

Ah, family ties. Brother and sister, appreciating one another's company.


I don't know what the lady cat thought she was doing, all squeezed in with the contents of this box.


Hawkeye, my daughter's dog, simply tries to stay out of the way, knowing he's outnumbered.