I’ve heard of a whiskey voice, and I’ve listened to several people who have whiskey voices. Perhaps that is why my ears perked up when I heard that my brother-in-law, Mark, adopted a kitty and named him “Whiskey Kitty.”
This was not an easy, cross-town adoption. Mark transported Whiskey Kitty on a flight from El Paso to Austin, deplaning in Dallas for a layover that must have felt better after a beer or two. Even the regulars at the airport bar took note of Mark’s business companion-in-a-carrier. It turns out that Whiskey Kitty was the ultimate business traveler, though there is no need for him to accrue mileage points. He has found himself a loving home.
Query of the Day: Isn’t Whiskey Kitty adorable?
What does a saturnine cat look like? I have never had an occasion to think about, much less respond to, this question, but I was inspired to do some research after reading a review in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal about a new exhibition, Nature in America: Taming the Landscape, presented at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Critic Barrymore Laurence Scherer cites an untitled pen-and-ink drawing from 1933 by Rosella Hartman, and he writes that the artist “depicts the smooth, sensual contours of her two [nude] figures and their saturnine cat.” Hmmm. Check out the slideshow, #10: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303343404577519101725598594.html#slide/10
Here is a translation, from art critic to Cat Lady: According to my unofficial Guide to Feline Body Language, that’s simply a self-absorbed cat.
Query of the Day: Is your cat saturnine?
I am way too old to take the “wee-hours-of-the-morning” shift for a cat who must have spent one of his lives as a howling baby.
L.B. was diagnosed recently with an extreme form of diabetes, and he is not having an easy time coping. Because of his excessive thirst—our first sign of the onset of the illness—, L.B. awakens every day at 3:00 a.m. and howls or bays at the moon. He does not wish to drink water from any of the ceramic bowls stationed around the house. No, L.B. wants me to turn on the faucet in the sink of the master bathroom (L.B. IS the master) so that he can sit in the sink and let the water splash around him. Did I mention that he likes to perform this routine at 3:00 a.m.?
I am so tired that I cannot see straight, and I find that, while stationed dutifully by L.B.’s side, my mind wanders. Last night, I fantasized that I had splurged on this Elie Tahari shift/sheath that I saw at Neiman Marcus. What Cat Lady could resist the extra touch of the leopard-print midriff? At this rate, a snorkeling suit might be more appropriate.
Query of the Day: Is No-Doze still on the market?
Why do I keep focusing on the word "cat" within the conjured word "staycation"?
Must be because I do not travel far from home, purely because of ten cats who need their Cat Lady at all times. More like a dog obeying his or her master, I "stay," faithfully, whenever I take a vacation from the office.
Query of the Day: Can you relate?
