In Which the Pirate Presents a Feline Friday.

I love taking pictures of the cats in the mornings, while they’re more likely to hold still and let me snap the shutter over and over again. Floyd’s still not easy to photograph; I think I had to take forty-seven pictures of him to get just one worth sharing. Most of the full-face pictures just came out as black cat silhouettes, and of course he would have to close his eyes whenever the camera goes off, even though I’ve disabled all the sounds. He’s a jerk that way.

He’s a jerk in other ways too. Lately his trick is to grumble at me (he sounds like a creaky door) if I ignore him, but to insert himself between Kipling and my hand when I’m petting the spotted beast – then he complains that he’s being touched against his will and stalks off again. He wants nothing to do with me until I’m on the other side of a closed door, and then he meows nonstop!

Kipling held very still, albeit upside-down, while I took a bunch of shots and hoped for one to come out clear. I love that he sleeps on his back like this; I think it’s the most adorable thing ever. If you reach over and scritch his chest while he’s upside-down he will stretch out and make happy noises.

The other night I was up in my room knitting when a thunderstorm rolled in. Kipling stood up and stared silently through the window, but Floyd was so excited that he had to tell me about each drop of rain. A Floyd-to-English translator tells me that he was saying “Mom! mom! mom mom mom mom it’s RAINING! Mom it’s raining! Have you ever heard it rain so hard? Mom mom mom mooo-om it’s raiiiining! Rain! and boom! and rain! flashy lights in the sky! Mom why aren’t you listening to me it’s RAINING!”