Don’t you sometimes wish you could be as easily amused and content as a happy dog or cat?
A couple years ago I bought a counter top ice cream machine with its own compressor. It does everything in 60 minutes. What I hadn’t counted on, was its double duty as a kitty toy. Last week, I mixed up a little batch of ice cream and poured it in. Patrice and I had set the machine on the kitchen table while we were cleaning and re-caulking the main kitchen counter. I turned on the machine and went back to our project. A few minutes later I looked over to see our kitten sitting up next to the ice cream machine. His little head was making small circles as he watched the dasher spin. That made me giggle. Within minutes, he had almost tipped over (dizzy, I suspect) and would occasionally put a paw up on top of the clear lid like he could catch that pesky dasher. Finally, he just passed out purring next to his favorite new toy. When he finally awoke, I let him lick the bowl.
Then there is our big French mastiff/brown lab who is convinced that she’s a cow dog. Cocoa loves to trot behind Patrice and whatever horse she’s riding and help round up cattle. She’s in great shape and all 95 lbs of this gentle giant can’t wait to make big circles on the ranch. I guess she’s not hurting a thing and she sure intimidates a few snorty cows.
Circling back to our current indoor kitty. Yesterday I watched him watch a magpie outside the bedroom window. The magpie was helping itself to a little kibble the dogs hadn’t cleaned up, and each time the magpie dropped its head for a bite, the kitty would swipe a paw at him. Pretty soon, the kitty became more interested in the lace curtain he was fighting during his duel with the bird. The bird never looked up, but the cat finally got so caught fighting the curtain and his own tail, that he ended up falling off the window ledge and plopping onto a big pillow, and then having a little bath before falling asleep.
My last story for this go round comes from supper time last night. Patrice had made us a delicious chicken dinner and we decided to watch a favorite tv show while we ate. She dished up mine and brought it over to me on the couch. I sat up and was enjoying one of my first bites just as our kitten decided to dash over and hop up. I didn’t see him coming and he landed squarely in my plate. Well, in fairness, it was only his front end. It scared him and he leapt away, then spent the next twenty minutes cleaning himself and enjoying my dinner. I told Patrice that it was a very good thing that we’d had lunch at the Martin.
I think it must be pretty wonderful to live such pure, simple existences. I just feel happy to be able to watch them all from a front row seat.
Kris Stewart is a rancher in Paradise Valley, Nevada.