Herb

So y'all know that we have four cats. A couple of pure-bred snot-noses, who are really lovely. They both do some remarkable things as well. Bennington, since he has been a wee kitten, does this weird begging/clapping thing when he wants something. Could be food, could be one of the other cats sitting up high on something. Could be angels. We aren't sure. Then there is Bootsy. He's an asshole, but we have to give him some credit. He has been getting really creative with waking us up each morning. He's learned an entirely new cat vocabulary, or so it seems. Brilliant, autistic animal.

But for truly unique behavior, you have to observe one or both of our rescue cats for a while. The brother and sister duo of Wolowitz and Gogo.

Gogo, always our most vocal cat, has this habit of just yelling at us. Out of nowhere! Usually it's when we've disturbed her sleep by sneezing or, ya know, breathing loudly. But she also does it every time we walk into the bathroom. She follows, yelling at us, wanting to be brushed either in the sink or near the tub. She knows that the hair brushes are in that room, and she ain't no fool. Apparently.

And she's famously skitchy. Doesn't sit still ever. Always a blur of motion. So this makes this next trick  something truly unexpected.

After more than four years, she has become a lap cat. An insistent lap cat. A cat who needs to be on our fucking laps all fucking day long. It's both wonderful and annoying. Wonderful, because we were used to lap cats with Sydney and Sammi before they passed away, and our current pride of four have been anything but lap cats. Annoying because she's still as skitchy as all hell. In a given day, she will settle in on my lap, rest for a few minutes, then hear a noise in another room and run like hell to see what it was. Then do it all over again. Ad nauseum. All day long. And she gets pushy if you don't seem interested in actually having her on your lap. Odd fucking cat.

Then there is Wolowotiz. Dr. Wu. Mother-fucking Wu. This guy bristles with intelligence. I often think of that line in "Jurassic Park" when they are talking about the velicoraptors. One of the characters says something to the effect of being able to look at them and see that they are figuring things out in their heads. That's Wu. Saw him once try to open a closed door by putting his front paws on either side of the doorknob and attempting to turn it. If only he had those opposable thumbs he's always wishing for. He'd rule the fucking world!

He's funniest, however, when I'm cooking up something in the kitchen. He loves leafy greens and herbs. Mint, fresh basil, romaine lettuce...anything with a leaf and a bit of a scent, preferably. He generally will leave me alone if I'm making something without any fresh herbs or greens. Just not interested.

So I thought it was funny that he was so intent on watching me cook up a batch of New Orleans-style red beans and rice today. Lots of aromatics in there in the form of dried herbs and spices, but no fresh herbs. And he came into the kitchen to watch right away. Just as I was preparing all the ingredients and starting with the chopping of the veggies. Then when I picked up the celery, he got super-excited....ah that's what he wanted. But just the leafy ends, of course. Smart fucking cat.

Wolowitz and his greens. Herb.