Natalie stated on the cover page of each issue of her “Applewood Quarterly” newspapers that there was “one full-time student and one part-time student” at Applewood School. Natalie was the full-time student and I, Jiji, was the part-time student. I sat in on many lessons, and participated whenever I thought a topic interesting. Art projects were my favorite. Now that Natalie’s in high school, I don’t get to see her as much. So, when she’s home, I spend time with her whenever I can. Here I am helping her finish some homework one morning.
Last week, Pamela posted a photo of me sitting in the middle of the Scrabble board. It seemed to be the only way to get everyone’s attention. I wanted to spell a word. Pamela said “WHAT” seems the perfect word for me to spell, as I often seem to be asking that question. Maybe she’s right.
“What, you’re going to eat and not give me a bit of wet food?”
“What, you want to go to bed just when I’m in the mood to play fetch?”
“What, you want to play Scrabble and not give me my own set of letters!”
Soon after Natalie brought me home eight years ago, I guess I began to exhibit traits that seemed “dog-like.” They started to call me a dog-cat. I suppose it’s because I like to play fetch. Puff balls are my favorite fetch toys. I know the drawer where they are stored, as you can see by viewing the clip about this post at www.facebook.com/TwointheMiddle I admit that I love to shove puff balls down the heater vent. You should see the looks I get when I let them know that a puff ball needs to be retrieved. The best is when I convince Pamela to pull out the vacuum cleaner with its long, skinny attachment so that she can rescue the puff ball for me.
The reason I’m a unique cat is that I’m part “ocicat” (the spots on my tummy are the visual clue). Ocicats are smart, confident, and outgoing. We like to play fetch. We’re full of energy except, of course, when we are taking one of our long naps, and we’re strong, so that we can gracefully leap to high places (if I concentrate, I can reach the top shelf of my cat tree in one jump). We’re considerate enough to learn household rules (like I know that I’m not supposed to scratch furniture, jump on tables or counters, or run out of the house). Every once in awhile, I am naughty and do one of the things I’m not supposed to do, but not often as that makes them ring “the bells,” which have the most aggravating sound. My favorite places to be are the top perch of my cat tree or my pillow in the bay window, where I can watch the world.
