A CAT IN A LAP BRINGS SMILES AND COMFORT TO ALL AGES!
These winter days are heavy with thick grey clouds, squalls and chilly temperatures. How cozy it would be to have a cat in my lap at this time of year, especially when deep into the night I can’t sleep and stretch out on the living room couch. It’s the time of year when Lorelie and I miss Amy, our 
last loving tortoise shell cat, snuggled into one of our laps while we read the recent Kent Kreuger mystery novel. Desperate, I pull out Lorelie’s scrapbook, with its many thumbed pages, filled with cats, dogs, rabbits and horses. On page one is a picture 
from 1951 of Lucky, my first dog; on page 2 is a picture from 1961 of Agnes, our first 
rescue kitten. Slowly becoming drowsy, I reminisce about Lucky and Agnes. The pictures reveal the roles they played in our family’s life. My drifting mind leads me to memories about how comfortable our dogs and cats were with our friends. I am grateful that Lorelie has ferreted out these old pictures that help me relax and return at last to bed and sleep.
As I turn the pages of the scrapbook, numerous pictures focus on our feline and canine friends interacting in a variety of ways with our human friends. The pictures of friends with our golden retrievers do not surprise me. An unknown author wrote, “If you’re lucky, 
a golden retriever will come into your life, steal your heart, and change everything.” But with our cats? Yes, plenty of pictures with cats playing and snuggling with folks they only met a few hours ago. Do we have enough photos for us to make a NESTER post about “SOCIAL CATS”?
So in the morning, over a cup of coffee, I mention the idea of a post about “social cats” to Lorelie. Her smile tells me she approves and it’s a “GO!” Knowing that our sister-in-law Keith is a marvelous photographer and a “lover” of cats, I call Keith, tell her about the post, and ask,”Might you have some photos to add to this post?
“DO I HAVE PICTURES OF CATS?” Keith sends us a series of emails filled with cat pictures. In addition to Lorelie’s scrapbook and digital library photos, I have Keith’s photos. “SOCIAL CATS” photos fill the computer’s desktop!
With all these cat photos, I decided I needed some quotes to accompany them in the post. Have you ever reviewed web sites featuring friendly cats? Now I have looked in the past for quotes about golden retrievers and they, indeed, have multiple testimonies about how wonderful they are! And they are all true.
But about cats? Oh yes, I did find plenty of positive quotes but I found almost an equal number of quotes about how selfish, cranky, unappreciative and manipulative they are! For instance, Garrison Keillor writes, “Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose.” Miguel de Cervantes claims, “Those who’ll play with cats must expect to be scratched.” Peter Kreeft wraps it all up, “Cats don’t need to be possessed; they’re evil on their own.” Really?
“I have felt cats rubbing their faces against mine and touching my cheek with claws carefully sheathed. These things, to me, are expressions of love.” –James Herriot
“All cats like being the focus of attention.” –Peter Gray
“The key to a successful new relationship between a cat and human is patience.” – Susan Easterly
“We…we could be friends.’
“No cat purrs unless someone is around to listen.” –Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
“What greater gift than the love of a cat!”
– Charles Dickens
“There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat.” –Tay Hohoff
- “I have lived with several Zen masters—all of them cats.” –Eckhart Tolle
“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.”
― Jean Cocteau
“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” –Albert Schweitzer
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” –Anatole France
“Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.” –James Herriot
“Cats are cats . . . the world over!
These intelligent, peace-loving, four-footed friends- who are without prejudice, without hate, without greed- may someday teach us something.
-James Mackintosh Qwilleran”
To view Lorelie’s & Tim’s COZY CATS VII – THE ONCE AND FUTURE CAT ARTHUR, – click here
Wonderful post! The pictures and the writing will have me smiling all day!
I will begin with a thousand apologies for being so tardy with my THANK YOU for including our precious Jack in Cozy Cats Viii – “Social Cats”. It’s for sure Jack enhanced our lives beyond all expectations. It was truly mush mush love going both ways!!! This beloved post stirs so many over the moon memories that Jerry and I will always have. Now, after my morning prayers, I open the blinds in our bedroom windows and without question, Jack “sends” a bird… sometimes more just to let me know we are “connecting”. He spent every waking moment enhancing our lives that were so special AND not to be believed. After a fall on our steps (because it was still dark, and I did NOT turn on the lights) Jack was right beside me. I wound up on our hardwood floor which resulted in a partial hip. After that EVERY single time I came down the steps, Jack was beside me!! Once a friend videoed it! Jack, you are so missed….until we can hold you again.