🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sat, 27 Apr 1996, John Klingle wrote:

> -=Weezel=- <louise@mv.mv.com> wrote:
> >it's easy to rekindle romance with a cat
> >
> >just give it what it wants     food    comfort    a scritch in the spot 
> >it decides is the right spot today   a clean litter tray   and the 
> >freedom to come and go as it wishes
> >
> >not much
> >
> >it's easy to rekindle romance with people
> >
> >but only if they know what they want and can tell you, somehow.
> >
> >some days I wish people would purr when I get things right, and bite my 
> >hand gently when I don't
> >
> >and stand in front of whatever treat it is they want and meow loudly
> >
> >this would make communication much simpler.
> >
> >and I really wish they'd sometimes curl up and exude purrs and contented 
> >vibes around me. come up to me and nudge my hand and want to be there, 
> >right there, where-ever I am, because I'm there, even if it's the coldest 
> >place in the house. Just because.
> >
> >--L
> 
> Cats are just plain easy. People are difficult. 
> 
> Let me know the next time your cat tells you a good joke or picks you up when 
> your car breaks down or tells you you're "not too fat" or takes you dancing or 
> buys you a birthday gift. These are real. 
> 
> Think about how much your cat "cares" about you. I am not a cat fancier or hater,
> and I know that animals can be a wonderful comfort, but it scares me when people 
> talk of "romance" with a pet. I am sure that you speak of "romance" metaphorically 
> in relation to your cats, but the business of life and love is much more work than 
> opening a can and emptying a litter box. 
> 
> -j-

Romance... that's different than commitment. Commitment, caring, being
reciprocal... that is what you're talking about when you mention someone
picking you up when your car is broken down. It's friendship, somewhat on
a mundane level (where "mundane" is not a putdown, but rather part of the
stuff that makes life work). It's *not* "romance", which has to do with
"fabrications", "excitement, love, and adventure", "wonderful and
extraordinary events, or stories about them", and "love affairs" according
to my dictionary. 

My relationship with my cats isn't between equals, and is not a substitute
for such a thing. However, it's dependable and comforting. And they are
there when the "romance" in my life phones me to say he's in love with
someone else too. They come up to comfort me, they are much more attentive
when I'm very sad. And they're definitely exciting, especially when I 
arrive home to find them stuck on top of pieces of furniture they had NO 
way of getting onto.

That said... there was a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor in my prior post. 
honestly, I don't expect my cats to bring me roses. 

I s'pose there should've been a couple humor indicators on it... the ;-) 
thingies. hmm.

--L