Caught in the Act

I promised Freddie I would have this blog up by 9AM this morning and it would have been, too, if Josie hadn't worked so late on the night I was supposed to write it. I don't know what she was thinking. She cut off the storefront lights, headed to the back room, and sat down at my computer for hours!

It wasn't just my blog that was delayed – it was our entire cat business agenda. We are nocturnal, after all. Superb night vision, sensitive hearing, an exquisite sense of smell…you get the picture. The point I'm trying to make here is that for us, it was nerve-racking to be in the glorious dark, yet unable to exercise these primo night skills. Especially at a time when there was so much depending on them.

Ultimately we had to ignore Josie's disregard for protocol (she was, after all, working for us) and get down to cat business, albeit with the utmost silence so that Josie could continue typing away, blissfully unaware of our front-room activities. After a few diligent hours, we agreed to take a feline break and the moment we did, Josie popped out of the back room and flicked on the light!

There I was, balancing on a teeny-weeny ledge heading to Little Man's crate for a bite of kitten chow. It was really embarrassing, but I just wanted some comfort food and it's not as if Little Man cared. He was too busy playing with the other kitties in the window, which, of course, was another complete surprise for Josie since Little Man is usually hiding in his crate. Then she saw the desk drawer kitty, Cassiopeia, lounging in the middle of the floor with a big grin on her face. Why? Because the bashful Velveteen cat was industriously licking the itty-bitty Cinnamon kitty. At that point, Josie just laughed out loud and asked what we'd done with her demure daytime felines.

We all breathed a sigh of relief. Our ploy was working. Even though Josie had caught us in the act, she didn't really know what the act was. Humans aren't very good at keeping secrets and it was important to keep this quiet…until tonight.

Anyway, as soon as Josie left I jumped on the computer while Little Man and the gang dashed back into our preparations. Several nights later, I'm proud to say that we are ready – and just in the nick of time. Because tonight there is a wide and silver moon rising above banks of iron clouds to illume their churning edges with lambent pearls…which is, as any feline knows, the calling card for Brumous Siam. It means that he is due at the stroke of midnight. Suffice it to say that life around here is about to get a lot more exciting in 2010. So from all of us to all of you – have a very Happy New Year!