Cat Convos: Signs of Spring

Kuri: What were you thinking?

Hiyu: I can’t believe you said baby slugs are a sign of spring.

Loki: Yeah, that makes no sense. You have us. Why care about slugs?

Me: Slugs are surprisingly interesting. Did you know they have thousands of teeth?

Kuri: I don’t want to know that.

Loki: If you want to know it’s spring, I can shed some light on that.

Me: I don’t believe you just said that.

Kuri: We’re shedding. Get it? That’s a sure sign of spring.

Hiyu: Anyway, back to us. You’ve been neglecting us.

Me: Don’t think so. We play several times a day and I always give you attention when you ask.

Kuri: You went on vacation.

Loki: Yeah, and left us here to shed on our own.

Me: I came back.

Hiyu: You brought gifts for everyone, but us.

Me: I broke out the catnip and you already had a new toy.

Loki: It’s not enough.

Kuri: Why do we only get Fridays? We should have a lot more days on the blog.

Hiyu: Kuri’s right. We can talk about all sorts of things all the time. How could anything be more important than us?

Me: Readers like to hear about other things too. Not everything is about you and your opinions.

Loki: We can read more books.

Hiyu: I like documentaries too, especially about birds.

Kuri: I can recite poetry.

Hiyu: I’m very philosophical.

Me: Yes, you guys are great, but you only get Fridays.

Kuri: You keep that up and we’ll never stop shedding on you.

Loki: I’ll wake you up in the middle of the night.

Me: You already do all of that.

Hiyu: Cat pile on top of her.

Kuri and Loki: Cat pile! Cat pile!

Me: Love you guys too.

~lisa

 

 

Cat Convo: New Year

New year, new life…

Loki: I don’t like any of the changes around here. Hear me scream.

Kuri: It’s not that bad. There’s a fantastic new playroom.

Me: That’s not a playroom.

Hiyu: Why would you tear out a wall and set up ladders and tarps if not for us?

Me: Rainbow Hill has been wanting a makeover for quite some time now. Best face forward for its travels through the space/time continuum.

Kuri: It’s not about us?

Hiyu: That’s very selfish of the hill. And why are you suddenly gone so much?

Me: I’m not gone that much. I’m still mostly at the keyboard.

Loki: Not all the time. First the dog leaves and then you keep going in and out. What’s more important than us and writing your books?

Kuri: And tuna. Tuna is important.

Me: I do go out a little bit more. In order to write about life, one occasionally has to live it.

Hiyu: So what is the soon-to-be-great author doing now?

Me: Volunteering, hiking, photography and helping The Hill make all of its changes. I’ll tell our readers more about it in other blogs. This one is all about you guys.

Hiyu: And so it should be.

Loki: Can we play another game? Catch the red laser dot?

Hiyu: I like catch the feather.

Kuri: Let’s use the playroom before it goes away. Dibs on the highest ladder.

Hiyu: Not if I get there first.

Me: Wait…no…oh, dear.

Happy New Year!

~lisa

From my favorite city to yours.

 

 

Cat Convo: Goodbye Arna & 2016

Dear Readers,

2016 has been a year of changes, some change presented, some change chased and some change reluctantly accepted.

 

My sentient Rainbow Hill which freely roams the space-time continuum has undergone a great deal of character growth and been surprised by many plot twists over the last few months.

2017 looks very exciting. There will be a lot of Cat Convos, mythology, writing and magnificent tangents.

First though, in a special Cat Convo, a sadly accepted change:

Arna, our beloved companion of fourteen and a half years passed away on December 20th.

Loki: Is she really gone?

Hiyu: I miss her.

Kuri: I miss her more.

Loki: Remember when we were kittens and she used to chase us?

Kuri: Yeah, until you jumped on her back and rode her piggyback up the stairs.

Hiyu: I wish we had a picture of that.

Kuri: The humans weren’t fast enough to catch that one, but we have a lot of other great pictures to remember her by.

 

Hiyu: I love how she used to lick the top of my head. All I had to do was give her a gentle head butt.

Loki: Remember how she used to steal our food before it was served on top of a box.

Hiyu: That’s because you kept stealing her food.

Kuri: She’s not here to protect us anymore.

Hiyu: She was good at that.

Kuri: Who’s going to stop all those people and things from getting up the hill?

Loki: What if all those delivery and mail people get in the house?

Hiyu: Don’t forget about the school buses and trucks.

Hiyu: Remember how she’d come in from a snowy walk? She’d be cold and happy and would let us groom all the extra snow off her.

Loki: Yeah, and she’d come back in spring covered with pollen and fresh green smells.

Hiyu: She was a great dog.

Kuri: All those memories…

Loki: All those good times…

Hiyu: We’ll miss her.

Me: We certainly will.

~lisa

Arna in Alicia’s car

Just the three of us now…

 

Cat Convos: The Floor is Lava

Hiyu: What are you doing?

Me: Sorting my books

Hiyu: You’re making huge piles of them. Hey, guys, look at the gigantic stacks of books in here.

Loki: Why? Why are you changing things?

Me: Because I’m a bibliophile. Every now and then, I’ve bought so many books that they need to be sorted and integrated on the shelves.

Kuri (in awe): Those towers of books are so tall.

Hiyu: The floor is lava!

Hiyu gracefully jumps to the top of a large stack of books.

Me: Oh, no! Stop! Don’t!

Kuri: Here I go.

Crash! Thud! Boom!

Kuri: I didn’t do that.

Loki: I’m on the cat tree.

Hiyu jumps to an empty shelf. The floor is lava! The floor is lava!

Loki: I’m safe on the cat tree.

Kuri jumps on the shelf with Hiyu.

Kuri: Where’s the stack of my poetry books?

Me: They’re already on the shelf.

Hiyu: I see epic fantasy. Watch me go.

Hiyu successfully makes the leap.

Loki: I’m still safe on the tree.

Kuri: I’ll take that stack of mythology.

Crash! Thud! Boom!

Me: How about we move some chairs and a sheet into the living room and you can play the floor is lava in there.

All three cats jump onto the chair I’m moving.

CHAIR RIDE! CHAIR RIDE! LAVA! LAVA!

Eventually the books will be sorted

~lisa

 

 

Cat Convo Friday

Kuri: Where have you been?

Me: Traveling. You had exemplary care.

Kuri: You left. Then you came back and then you left again.

Me: I picked up some wonderful stories, some great new mythologies, and some fantastic pictures.

Hiyu: You didn’t have our permission.

Loki: What’s more fantastic than us?

Me: You’re all fantastic.

Hiyu: The dog isn’t well and you left for almost a whole month.

Kuri: I’m glad your laptop broke. That’ll teach you.

Loki: I’m not glad. I like to snuggle with the laptop. It’s warm.

Me: I’m back now. Laptop is being fixed. Dog is being taken care of.

Hiyu: I think she’s really sick.

Me: I know.

Loki: Where did you go?

Me: Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Palm Desert, New York City.

Loki: Why?

Me: One has to live life if one wants to write about it.

Loki: So where are all the pictures?

Me: After I get the laptop fixed. Then I will have lots of stories to tell.

Hiyu: What about the dog?

Me: She’s very old. She’s my top priority now.

Hiyu: That’s fair. For now.

Me: Thank you.

Kuri: I’m glad you’re back.

Loki: Me too.

Me: And I’m glad to be back.

~lisa

 

Cat Convo Friday

Loki: There’s a wolf at the door.

Kuri: I saw it too.

Loki: We live in a brick house, right? A wolf can’t blow it down.

Me: A wolf can’t blow our house down, but there’s no need to worry, we don’t have wolves around here.

Hiyu: Look out the window.

Me: That, my dear cats, is a coyote.

Kuri: What’s he doing by our house?

Me: Looks like he’s sunbathing.

 

Loki: Can a coyote blow our house down?

Me: No, not even a full-grown one.

Loki: Please make it go away.

Me: After I take a few pictures. He’ll disappear soon enough.

Kuri: Are coyotes as dangerous as wolves?

Me: To you, yes, but rest assured, there are no recorded instances of a coyote blowing down a house, not even one made of straw.

Loki: Can we read a different fairytale tonight?

Me: I think you three will enjoy the story of Puss-in-Boots

~lisa

Cat Convo Friday

Hiyu: Do you hear what we hear?

Me: I hear Arna snoring.

Loki: Not the dog.

Kuri: Listen!

Me: Are you talking about the bird song?

Hiyu: Of course, we are.

Loki: We want to go out and play.

Me: Sorry, you have to stay on this side of the glass.

Hiyu: See that little bird? I bet I can catch him.

Me: That’s a hummingbird.

Kuri: What about that bird over there. He’s big enough to play with us.

Me: That’s a bald eagle. He’s big enough to eat you.

Kuri: How about one of those red-tailed hawks.

Me: Same thing.

Loki: How about that big bird over there.

Me: I’m sure the neighborhood peacocks don’t want to play with you either.

Loki: How about a robin or a sparrow? Can they come in and play?

Me: Why don’t we just enjoy their songs while we play with your toys.

Hiyu: You better make it challenging cause I’m in the mood to hunt.

Kuri: Me too.

Loki: I just want to make more friends.

~lisa

Cat Convo Friday

Kuri: Hmm…you’re home.

Hiyu: Is it really you? You’ve been gone so long.

Loki: Yes, so long.

Me: I’m back. How have my kitties been?

Kuri: What do you care? You left us.

Loki: I’m not even going to look at you. Do you see how made I am?

Hiyu: You don’t really expect us to make fools of ourselves like the dog?

Me: You do know the dog has a name?

Hiyu: Who cares. You left us. We’re mad.

Loki: Yeah, we’re on a cat strike.

Me: As you wish. I’m going to take a bath and then collapse for some well-earned sleep.

Kuri: Bath?

I fill the tub with steaming water and foaming bubbles. The bathroom door shudders. I can hear Kuri bashing away at the door down.

Hiyu: Try the handle.

Kuri: It’s locked.

Loki: Hurry up and get through. We can’t let her disappear again.

I leave the bath and head towards the bed. It’s always nice to return to one’s own pillow. The dog joins me. Kuri joins me. Loki joins me. Hiyu cuddles up against my ankles.

It’s good to be home.

~lisa

Cat Convo Friday

Loki: The dog is being mean.

Me: Arna is never mean.

Kuri: Yes, she is. She said you had a suitcase out.

Hiyu jumps to the top of the dresser.

Loki: She can’t trick us. We know it’s April Fools.

Me: So you looked at the calendar?

Kuri: It took a while to get the calendar to the floor, but it is definitely April Fools.

Hiyu: Um…guys…look.

Loki: That’s a suitcase!

Kuri: You’re meaner than the dog to pull that… that suitcase out.

Me: I’ll just be gone a little while.

Loki: Look! I can fit. I can go too.

Kuri: Look! I fit too!

Me: Don’t worry, guys. Alicia is going to look after you. She spoils you more than I do.

Hiyu: I’ll never forgive you.

Kuri: I bet I can claw this suitcase to smithereens.

Me: Not going to happen and you guys are going to be fine.

Loki: You’re sure it’s not April Fools?

Me: It’s not a trick.

Hiyu: Hey, you guys, let’s go catch those giant spiders in the kitchen.

Me: April Fools?

Hiyu: You’ll see.

~lisa

 

Cat Convo Friday

Kuri: What is that?

Me: A garment bag.

Hiyu: It sounds like plastic.

Me: It’s not for you.

Hiyu: But I want to try it.

Kuri: What’s in it?

Me: Kimonos, a sari, a parasol and a few other odds and ends.

Loki: Are there mice?

Me: No mice.

Hiyu: It looks nice and thick. Can I try it.

Me: No, you may not. Not a single dental impression allowed.

Hiyu: Why?

Me: These things are in the bag to keep them clean and dust free. That means no puncture holes.

Kuri: Why don’t we ever see this bag?

Me: Because I don’t usually wear kimonos.

Loki: Can I get in the bag and look for mice?

Me: No.

Kuri: I’ll get in and check for you.

Hiyu: Just one bite.

I brush Hiyu away and extract the twins from the bag. I shoo them towards the door. Hiyu laughs at me and I can see the twins plotting. Hiyu leaps past me towards the bag and as I ward him off, Kuri and Loki jump back into the bag.

Once again, I pull the kitties out and then shut the door.

Loki: I’m sure I saw a mouse.

Hiyu: Open the door! Just one bite. Please!

I hear Kuri trying to get a grip on the doorknob. I quickly pull out the convention costumes and get the bag away in the closet where it belongs.

The cats are wailing outside the door: Mice! Mice! Mice!

Arna grins and gives half a wag of her tail. Let them yell for a while. You spoil them too much.

Me: And I don’t spoil you?

Arna gives me a grin: All the time and thank you.

Mischief averted. ~lisa

Kuri (on other side of door): Let’s go take our drinking fountain apart.