Catching Up

I've not written too much here for a while. Not because I don't love any (either?) of you any more. And not because I have turned my back on the written arts - heaven forbid. It's just that my time and pen has been taking me elsewhere.

So what's been going on?

In February, as well as turning another ripe old age, I moved in to a menagerie. One of the number was the wonderful Lady Catherine, with whom I have been stepping out for a good 8 seasons. The others are a horde of cats. Although in fact I believe they number just two.

The move was pretty simple, especially for Lady C who didn't even leave her building, and instead humped her stuff up two floors to the penthouse apartment. I had to shift my stuff over a river but and fortunately this city is festooned with bridges, so there was no need to hire a boat, just a guy with a van. The new place has two floors, much storage space and his'n'hers offices. Damn near perfect, despite costing all of our limbs and the limbs of our first-born in rent.

I am not really a cat person. I was brought up with dogs and hamsters. But I have always admired their cunning and ability to dupe owners that they care about them. Cats take some getting used to. Dogs, once trained, respond to commands and won't go where you tell them not to after a few times of stern telling. Cats wilfully seek those places and do not understand orders, shouts or pleads to move. When you finally shove, throw or even gently push them off, they look back at you with a face of incomprehension and faint malice.

Of the two cats, one is exactly what I expected in a cat. She's superior and a little independent, if somewhat afraid of sudden movements and much of the outside world. The other is needy, demanding of attention and whiney. More like a puppy in fact. This is the one that if we didn't barricade ourselves into the bedroom section of the house, would spend all night scratching at the door to be let in. He's not allowed in as, once in, he would either turn his nose up and walk out again or try to sleep on you face.

The other thing about cats is that they shed hair. Girlfriends, of course, do this too, but nothing like the way cats do. It's quite amazing to put on a shirt you haven't worn for a few weeks that's been hanging high in the wardrobe and find it's covered almost uniformly in cat hairs.

I guess I shouldn't complain as real cat-hair jackets cost a lot of money these days and no cruelty is involved.