Once while G-Ma was cat-sitting for Yours Truly, she was startled awake during the middle of the night by the sound of her doorbell. Peeking out the small window in the door, as well as through the front curtains, she didn’t see a soul. G-Ma figured that some teenagers were having fun at her expense and went back to bed. About 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang again. This time G-Ma thought she could catch them if she was quick about it, so she rushed to the door and flung it open. Imagine her surprise when there sat my cat on the ledge beside the door. She said that the cat “jumped down to the stoop, and, when I opened the screen door, gave me a piece of his mind as he walked past me…. fussing at me for not letting him in the first time he rang! I didn’t even know the cat was outside!”
G-Ma used to freak out when Midnight and King would start play fighting. She never got used to watching the huge dog take the entire cat's head in his mouth, shake him around and then toss him aside. Of course, Midnight loved it! He'd roll to a stop and be ready to pounce back in a heartbeat. G-Ma was just sure his neck was going to get broken eventually. I think it was all part of their plan to entice G-Ma to once again fly out of the house with a broom to stop the fight. They'd dodge around her with huge grins everytime.
I heard a bunch of dogs barking and growling in the backyard one day. Reaching the back of the house, I opened the door to find myself face to face with my cat, clinging to the screen door with all his might. Just behind him on the back porch paced my dog, ferociously daring a large pack of neighborhood canines to step any closer. It's always good to know that family has your back!King was a very patient fellow. He was a mix with the coloration of his German Shepard side and the long-haired size of the Sheepdog side, which gave him the look of a Collie. G-Ma used to lay a large quilt in the backyard for the Brothers to crawl around on while she was doing yardwork. She'd lay the twins in the middle of the quilt and call King over. "Watch the babies", she'd instruct him and off she'd go. King took this task very seriously. He'd lay down on the quilt with them, allowing them to crawl over and around him while he watched.... Eventually one of the twins would start crawling toward the edge of the quilt. King would gently grab hold of the adventurer's diaper and slowly pull him back to the center of the quilt. The twins loved this and would giggle their delight each time.
I'd had Cuddles for a few years when The Boy was born. Needless to say, it took awhile for Cuddles to come to gripes with this annoying, little being I'd brought home. Cuddles would loudly meow his displeasure at first, but slowly began to be won over. Cuddle always slept burrowed under the covers with his head resting right beneath my chin. One night, The Boy was restless and I laid him in bed beside me. As I lay there on my side with a hand resting over the baby, Cuddles jumped up to lay down. He promptly burrowed in between us to his usual spot without disturbing The Boy, then gently rested his paw on the baby's side as well. Being a single parent can have its drawbacks. I really wish someone else had been present with a camera to capture the serenity of that moment.
Pets provide us with many pleasurable moments. There are times when I would have loved to capture some of them, especially one where Hello Kitty @ 6 weeks put our adopted stray dog in his place and assumed the role of Queen of the house, leaving Pexote trembling on the veranda.
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