Black Friday

How does Cat Lady spend Black Friday?

Am I like "Target Lady," the hyper-Type-A female character starring in the Target TV commercials who seizes the day-Black Friday-in a major way?

You won't catch me standing in a long line today at PetSmart, waiting with other Cat Ladies for the "Buy 25 Pallets of Fancy Feast, Get 1 Free" doorbuster sale. I'm safely at Catland, with our ten cats, where there is not a gate-crasher in sight. We're decorating for the Christmas holidays, and Cat Man is in heaven because his Longhorns beat the Aggies last night in the football rivalry finale of them all.

Don't get too crazy out there, Cat Ladies, if you are among the millions roaming the malls 'til midnight. For me, there is no place like home on Black Friday. Lucius, Lydia, Leo, Lillie, Linus, L.B., Alvar, Perkins, T.J., and Miss Tommie unanimously agree.

Query of the Day: Do you raid PetSmart on Black Friday?

A Horn of Plenty...Felines

I tip my Cat Lady’s hat to artist/cartoonist/illustrator Lisa Hanawalt, who in her “Visions of Thanksgiving” Op-Art piece for the New York Times, came up with the perfect coinage and imagery for tomorrow’s holiday: “Cornucatta,” or, a “horn of cats.”

My Thanksgiving “cornucatta” will overflow with ten cats whose primary colors just so happen to complement the primary palette of our holiday tableware: pumpkin, charcoal, and a mélange of the two.

Move over turkeys—here come our kitties. And here’s wishing you and yours a healthy and bountiful Thanksgiving Day.

Query of the Day: Are you serving a Thanksgiving feast to your cats?

Coosome Twosome

Aren’t these two kitties the cutest?

Ocho (in grey) and Mr. T. (in tuxedo garb) belong to my great friend and colleague Heather, who briefly returned to her hometown of Houston this week and escaped the snowy environs of Ohio.

While Heather was away, Mr. T. did play—to the tune of sliding down a laundry chute. Mr. T. wound up in the basement of Heather’s house, where he had ample opportunities to explore new territory. But as soon as Mr. T. came up for air, he found his best buddy Ocho. I think Mr. T. said, “It’s cold down there. Commence Snuggling.”

I love furry tales with happy endings.

Query of the Day: Does your cat like to perch on top of your laundry basket or slide down a laundry chute?

You’ve Got a Friend

That’s what Mary, my Wellesley roommate, said to me when I walked through the front door of her lovely home in Minneapolis. Audrey, also a longtime friend from Wellesley days, and I were curious if Mary had arranged for one of our classmates to jump out from behind the living-room couch as a surprise opening act for our mini-reunion. Enter Maeby.

Maeby is my new best friend of the feline persuasion. This darling tortoiseshell cat with the expressive flat face, which seemingly floats above her compact body (she doesn’t have much of a neck), bonded immediately with me. We had the best of times playing and cuddling during my too-brief stay.

Not that I needed documentary evidence, but I was very satisfied to find—so many miles from Catland—that I could still earn my keep as Cat Lady. Mary’s two other cats were affectionate, too, though Maeby is my girl.

When Mary and Audrey and I attended Wellesley during the 1970s, James Taylor was the man. I can remember many nights in our dormitory rooms listening to his album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, and replaying his version of Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend.” Little did I know then that this song would serve as a personal anthem for a weekend filled with nostalgia and enhanced by my meeting yet another furry friend.

Query of the Day: Are you a cat magnet?