Rainstorm, with cats

We’re having a rainstorm here. A while ago a particularly wild patch of weather blew through, with hail mixed with the rain, the mixture slamming down with incredible force. You could feel as well as hear and see the extra violence of it.

During the worst of it, one of our cats went from window to window, jumping right up on the sills, getting as close as she could get to the action. She was quite obviously observing and pondering what she was seeing. She also appeared to be comparing one window’s data against another.

I wandered around the house until I found our other cat. That cat was hunkered down in her favorite chair, and she fixed me with an unhappy stare that I interpreted as “Make it stop!”

Things have quieted down some, and the first cat has found other ways to be busy. She is usually busy. This morning, before the storm, she was investing time and effort into trying to get a rawhide stick to stand up. At present she is trying to slide books out of a stack (not a good idea, in my opinion). She’s being very deliberate about it and seeing exactly how much force applied where works best – the goal seems to be to topple them one by one and not en masse. She is having a ball. Oh, now she wants out. Apparently she’s got this book stack stuff figured out and is ready for the next challenge. (Slight pause in narrative as well-trained human lets cat out onto the breezeway…).

I just wandered down the hall again, and the other cat again stared at me from the hollow of her upholstered rocking chair – only this time she could barely keep her eyes open. She is one tired cat. Too much worrying, I suspect.

I can’t help thinking there’s a lesson here somewhere.