And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again

[austin_dern]

I hope all had a reasonably merry Christmas. While my sister and her boyfriend came down, my brother who lives out in California didn't fly over, which is fine since that relieved pressure on finding gifts for him. And my other brother and his wife didn't come because he's very allergic and won't be coming down here while the cats are around. He says last time he visited it took him a week to recover. It can take me that long to recover from my father too. That's fine too, though, since while I've got fine presents for her I'm second-guessing my choice of a remote-controlled dinosaur for him. It's juvenile, but I think he'd have fun scaring his cat with it.

So we had a small crowd, but I turned on the living room light so my camera had a chance of producing a usable picture. The living room is otherwise the dimmest spot on Earth not occupied by a coal factory. My father complained of the glare but did not turn the light off until the second my sister and her boyfriend left. Adding to the fun was my sister bringing her dog along, so the cats got to react. The dog really likes playing with cats, but has noticed that sometimes cats get all pointy when she plays with them, and so has understandably ambiguous body language. The older cat stood her ground, laying on the bed, occasionally hissing back at the squeaking dog.

The younger cat found the dog interesting but unwelcome and jumped to the top shelf in my father's closet. We've never figured out how she can possibly do that. Eventually my mother checked on her, and the cat leapt onto her shoulder, to stay. She would stick out her claws and arch her back and hiss at the dog, but she wouldn't get off my mother's shoulder for anything. Well, almost anything. When my mother sat down and took out the scissors used to trim the cats' nails, that's when the cat ran off and hid under the dining room table. She occasionally poked her head out the far side of the table and that was as much dog as the cat wanted to experience.

Trivia: In the Battle of Trenton 21 Hessians and no Americans were killed, and 90 Hessians and four Americans were wounded. Source: 1776, David McCullough. And I'm looking forward to whatever high comedy the Revolutionary War Reenactors have dreamed up for this year's Battle of Trenton fiasco.

Currently Reading: Empire of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World, Jill Jonnes.

Comments

[patchoblack.livejournal.com]

Hey, nothing says Merry Christmas like a remote control robotic dinosaur! If he doesn't enjoy it, he is in need of a whimsy transfusion!

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Well, I've learned that he's given a very similar present to someone else, so it can't be too far out of line.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to wonder if it's your father that ought be the one going to the eye doctor. It's theoretically possible that the hatred of overillumination might not be attributed to crankiness and wasting of light.

I think interesting but unwelcome is how I, as a cat, would view an unfamiliar dog.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

In fact, bringing my father to an eye doctor has been considered and he has something specific to investigate. More details to follow, if I ever do hear them, and keep in mind how long it takes me to hear anything.

This dog shouldn't be entirely unfamiliar; if nothing else, when a kitten the younger cat would have lived around it. She may have forgotten, but they seemed willing to accept me on relatively little exposure in between Singapore trips.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

I generally presume that pets have a memory span of no more than a fortnight for 'creatures I did not have extensive contact around growing up, or gave birth to,' and rarely then. I was never quite sure if my pet dog Freckles remembered me when I came home from college, because I was treated the same as everyone else when I came home: with yipping and face-licking for the first few minutes, and then relative calm.

As, well, the people playing Anthropomorphic Animals that we are, it's hard not to ascribe memory to pets, but they might just accept that anyone staying long enough is safe, now.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, it takes the cats about a week and a half to accept when my parents are on vacation and all I'm doing is feeding and watering them and cleaning up after them. And this after I've been an almost daily presence for months.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

True, the speed of sound isn't what it used to be. Which can be a very good thing, as Australia's yet to hear Britney Spears, but on the other paw, does mean Boeing can crow about supersonic flight that'd get them overtaken by a 2CV on the ground.

Which kind of robodino? Pleo (http://www.amazon.com/Pleo-Dinosaur-Ugobe-Life-Form/dp/B000RWEGCO/), by any chance? If so, did you bring enough for all of us? Though I'm not sure how much walking space he'd have around here.. maybe I could train him to provide massages. Perhaps there's a way I could get him to vibrate heavily. If not, there's bound to be a hack.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, a much cheaper one, designed really for human cubs. About all it does is take a few steps, growl, and shake its head around, but that's surely enough to keep cats under control or make them very nervous.