Eccentric or Just Plain Goofy?

Mr. Fixit and I crossed the line between quaint eccentricity and just being two old loonies. We have always spoiled our pets a bit, but we never treated them as people. In fact, we have never even given them “people” names like Sam, Max, or Emily. We have had Dandy, Sarge, Cutie, and Vicious (Vishy, for short). I decided not to name the cats we have now, but their descriptions have become their names. We have Big Boy, Little Boy, Little Girl, and Mother.

Since the cats are feral, they spend most of their time outdoors; however, when the weather is bad they come inside, but they are restricted to the kitchen and dining room. They also come in every night to have a nightcap while I do my medicine routine.

Yesterday when Mr. Fixit came home from work I told him that the Big Boy wanted to stay indoors the previous night. I explained that I thought it was because the skunk had paid us a visit. About 12:30 am the cat started meowing. (He is a very loud meower. I think he may have a little Siamese in him.) I thought maybe he wanted to go out. When I came down to let him out, I discovered that he didn’t want to go out, he just wanted some company. I sat with him for a few minutes and then went back upstairs to continue my book after turning on a nightlight for him.

Mr. Fixit said, “He barely lifted his head when I came down to have coffee. He didn’t want to go out. I thought maybe he would start meowing so I thought about turning on the television so he wouldn’t be lonely.”

I said, “Did you listen to our conversation? We were talking about nightlights and television for the cat. We are now officially goofy.”

Note: We had a cat who actually watched television. She enjoyed cartoons, wildlife programs, and westerns. Mr. Fixit made her a padded bench so she could sit comfortably in front of the set. Maybe we crossed that “goofy” line a long time ago now that I think about it.