January 8: Cat in a Box

I spent the day looking for joy and delight. Which was a very interesting and slightly unnerving practice. I wanted these moments of delight to happen naturally. But I felt like I was forcing it yesterday. Everywhere I turned, I thought, could this be my moment of delight? Could this? Finding these HUGE ripe blueberries at the grocery store? Having a woman hold a door open for me? Biting into the most delicious pulled pork cuban wrap? What if I never experienced a moment of delight to write about? Should I settle for something second best, just "okay", slightly mediocre? I started to reassess what joy and delight are to me. And I determined that, as much as possible, I wanted these moments to be experiences that make me light up, or "squeal" in delight. Those really special moments. But if I wasn't blessed with a really special moment on a particular day, which is obviously apt to happen, I decided that any moment that made me smile would count. But yesterday, I did end up having a "squealingly" delightful moment late in the evening.  

In addition to Fela, the black cat previously mentioned, I also have two gingers (Bernie and Sanders). All three of my cats LOVE boxes. But especially Sanders. Every time an empty box (or in this case, an empty box lid!) becomes vacant, a cat takes up residence, without fail. So last night, I was sorting some Magic cards (Magic the Gathering, or MTG), and I opened up another box of cards in our collection. I nonchalantly placed the lid precariously on top of another box on the couch, and Sanders promptly curled up right inside (exactly how Sanders likes it, kind of crooked, slanted, and seemingly very uncomfortable. He curls up into a tight little ball (actually quite a big ball now because he has gotten quite fat) and just looks so adorably cute and comfy. Once I notice him and squeal about his cuteness, he manages to get MORE cute, by cuddling up even tighter, rolling upside down, looking at me with his big puss-in-boots beggar eyes. It brings me such joy and delight to experience these moments with my cats, and it always gets me thinking about them as living, breathing creatures. What are they thinking and feeling? Do they think? Do they feel? How do they know how to be a cat? What do they think we people are? How is it that these creatures willingly cohabitate with us without mauling us in our sleep? I am amazed and delighted by it every day. 

With delight,

♥Jamie