Lived at Rest

Because a piece of our webculture dictates that at such a time, you blog about it. Sure, why not?

A few years back, Christmas morning, these two adorable miscreants entered our home.















Brother and sister, dubbed Pippin (my favorite hobbit) and Chai (my favorite drink). I'm rather uncertain as to why my favorites dictated the names of the cats, since they're very much Elizabeth's pets. One of Elizabeth's aspirations in life, after everything settles down, is to become the crazy cat lady, and this may have been her starter kit.

My Dad says that in order to understand cats, you need to have at least two at the same time. Before these two romping furballs, we had a grey angora beauty who we simply knew to be neurotic. Dad explains that anyone who only has one cat will tell you, "Yes, I have a cat, and I can tell you what cats are like," but anyone with two will tell you, "I haven't got a clue." There is no hard-and-fast rule for cat nature.
















Chai, the sister, in her adult years weighs half what her brother does. She's a hunter, and will occasionally disappear for days at a time, presumably prowling in the aspens back behind the house. (This is interesting, because she's a lighter color than her brother, so she stands out much better in the woods). She will accept limited amounts of attention, and while she enjoys being in the house, she's very nervous and will be watching everything.

















Pippin weighs somewhere around twelve pounds, and has little interest in hunting. He's dominated by his sister, but doesn't much seem to care. She beats him up, and he goes off to some other corner of the basement and waits until she's distracted - not unlike the relationship Joe and I share, come to think of it, save that Joe chooses not to engage with me for his own motivations, and Pippin's motivations are a complete mystery. Pip is perfectly happy to spend ten hours of the day sleeping in the same bed with my sister, and will be fine and comfortable being picked up. Overall, he's largely unbothered by the world, and prefers to stay near the home.
















The dynamic between the two is also something of a mystery. I don't know exactly how she's going to respond without him.















Male cats often have far more health problems than female cats. Some of this I can explain, some of it I haven't a clue. But, Pip's been having a hard time of it for the last year or more. And you know where that's going. I was out with a friend last night (ironically, part of the night involved watching some of the antics of his cats), and I missed the big event.

I'd say rest in peace, but he's already exhibited through life that he's got that one handled. Farewell, Pippin.