How is it possible that an animal who seemingly sleeps or dozes for 22 hours each day, eats, investigates, cuddles and purrs for another hour and 50 minutes, can explode into a destructive force for the other 10 minutes (not in one go, though)?
happy new year
So we acted like responsible cat owners turning down all party invitations for tonight and stayed home to watch over Henry and see to it that he would survive his first fireworks unscathed and as little traumatised as possible. We settled down for a cosy time with a bottle of good wine and a bad movie to await the midnight pandemonium.
Henry didn’t grace us with his presence but he is not really into film so it didn’t bother us. Then comes the traditional countdown 9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… CRASH! BANG! BOOM! It’s 2019!! Outside rockets explode, stars in all colours fall from the sky, it’s loud, it’s bright. We walk over to the window to watch – and then we feel something nudge us in the back of our legs. Henry isn’t happy that we bar his view. He pushes between us, literally pressing his little nose to the window, looking outside, mesmerized by what is going on. The noise doesn’t bother him, not the bangers, not the howlers.
I’m still awake but I see Henry lying on the bed, breathing calmly in his sleep … New Year’s Eve Party 2019 – here we come!
Ulysses: As a fan of henry – i must object to you trying to fob him off with bad movies when he gets no wine, let alone catnip – but i managed to google some kind of rescue plan – and await the ensuing curiosity/joy./chaos – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB5ADJl5E48
Me: Thank you, Ulysses. As you know he is still young so I will have to vet (sic) the movie material first. He will, in any case, watch it in instalments (provided I approve, of course). You (and I) know what too much movie watching at a young age can lead to …
Me (later that day): Found out there is a fundamental difference between cats and kids: you can park kids in front of the tv if you need a break fom supervising them. With cats this doesn’t work so good. Lothar thinks we don’t need a new tv, though, he thinks he can repair it…
alert!
So I’m sitting on my desk with my forearms asleep because Henry is draped over them, snoring peacefully and just being adorable (luckily I can touch type), when a gust of wind rattles the shutters quite violently and Henry jumps half a meter into the air, lands on my bossom with extended claws – totally rattled himself.
I am so lucking forward to the fireworks tomorrow night.
on the prowl
I won’t even comment at length on my status update last night: “It’s almost 2am and the little master has just come home! He’s been out for 8 hours. That’s the first time he’s been out for more than 10 minutes, the first time out of sight, actually.”
Suffice to say that I first checked every hour, later every 30 minutes, then every 15 …
The only thing I did see from about 11pm to 1am was Johnny, the neighbour’s tomcat, sitting bang! in the middle of our lawn. He probably knew where Henry was and just didn’t tell me.
hooked on licking
I think Henry is a junkie. He is not into sniffing glue but licking it. Every open envelope with a self-sealing edge he finds , he licks. Any package that was sealed with self-adhesive gum, he licks. Any sticky material, he’s got his tongue on it. If I brush my arm against something sticky, there he is and licks the stuff off.
the battle for the door has begun
Now that Henry is allowed out he has started a new training phase (him training us, of course). I open the bedroom door and he goes out. I leave it open but it’s cold so after awhile, when I notice that he has long come inside again, I go to close it. Whoosh! Henry dashes outside. I leave the door open, just enough for him to come in and the moment I turn my back, he does. I go to close the door and — whoosh! – he’s out again. Now I close the door and I have a kitty outside complaining loudly that we are horrible people who banish him outside even though it is freezing.
I remember our first cat in South Africa (Lady Baby Cotton Socks) who would always miaow when she wanted the door opened do that she could go outside. In spring, when it finally rained again after the completely dry winter months on the Highveld, she would stick out her paw, catch a raindrop, shake it of and disgustedly turn back into the house. She would repeat this performance at all our doors leading outside, not believing that it actually rained on every side of the house. It took her at least a week or two until she remembered the phenomenon “rain”.
let’s play hide and seek
Henry sometimes disappears for hours during the day. No idea where he is. We are not even sure where he spends most of his nights. The doors and windows are looked so we know he is inside – but where? We looked under the bed, in cupboards, in drawers, under blankets, in corners, behind shelves, in boxes – no Henry to be seen or heard.
The little bugger had us completely bamboozled. Today we found his hiding place. Of course, it was the last place we looked. He was sound asleep in his … (drumroll!) … transport box! The very thing he fights literally tooth and nail when we try to put him inside.
catmas
Henry post of Christmas day: Although we have the barest of trees – in German I’d say: “abgespeckt” aka: stripped of all rashers of bacon – Henry still managed to climb it and break a few “branches”. He is wishing everybody a merry Christmas, though.
I’m partially to blame, I guess. Running after the camera instead of kicking the cat out.
i’m just a fella with an umbrella
We spent the whole day outside in the rain and when we came home we changed into dry clothes and put the opened umbrella in the bathroom. Apparently Henry likes the beach feeling. He hasn’t moved from under it.
let me slurp your bathwater
Henry really loves me. He now waits until I step out of the shower and starts licking the leftover water from the floor. It must be Love.
Instead of a photo I offer this song text by the Comedian Harmonists as illustration:
Laß mich dein Badewasser schlürfen,
einmal dich abfrottieren dürfen,
und deine Oberweite messen
und alle andern Frau’n vergessen, vergessen,
laß mich dich einmal nur massieren
und deine Rippen dabei spüren,
für einen Kuß auf deine
Sohlen möcht ich dein Pantoffel sein!
Any grace gets lost completely in the translation no matter how hard I try, so I keep it as literal as possible abandoning all attempts to capture the feeling of the song:
Let me slurp your bathwater, let me towel you dry, and measure your bust, and forget all other women, let me just massage you once, and thereby feel your ribs, and for planting a kiss upon your soles I wish I could be your slipper!
I couldn’t find the Comedian Harmonists version online, but this group is close to the original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWhhPX5SlB0
Henry 