Some small soft thing was gently bounced off the bridge of my nose this morning, and it woke me up.
Opened my eyes to see a catnip mouse resting two inches from my face.
Just past the catnip mouse sat La Mamacita Grande.
mrow?
[breakfast?]
Six Impossible Wake-Up Calls Before Breakfast.
The cats have many techniques for waking me up in the morning when they want to be fed...
...from the violent (pouncing on the full bladder, or attacking exposed feet) ~
...to the subtle (licking the eyelids/nostrils, or nonchalantly walking back & forth & up & down over & over again & again across the body like fumble-footed four-legged fanatical geishas) ~
...to the persistent (placing a well-judged paw, slowly extruding the claws, and then enexorably pulling as slowly & smoothly as an hydraulic piston ~ done everywhere, but most effective when done to the bottom lip).
I eventually learn to sleep through all of them, and so they're forever forced to change their tactics {I ought to keep track of all of 'em, and write a treatise: 101 ways to rouse your caregiver for an earlier breakfast}.
Lately it's been: *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? *poke* are you up yet? I'm HUNGRY.
So being pelted in the face with a catnip mouse was actually a refreshingly pleasant wake~up call.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It reminded me of the tool-based IQ experiments through which chimps are assessed. I've always thought La Mamacita Grande was very smart but too shy to show it; call me doting & dotty, but I think the fact she used a tool to wake me up reveals a rather sophisticated thought process.
Posted by edgar at May 2, 2003 05:19 PM