My little cat has discovered a brand new game to play with me. Being a cat, she loves the warmth and sun. As there is none to be had, due to bad weather, she gets herself all wet, whenever she ventures outside. I got tired of in turn getting myself all wet, every time she returns to snuggle up to me for warmth. So I fetched a towel to dry her up. She likes terry cloth a lot, I discovered.

Now, that the weather is so bad, her trips to the big outdoors shorten considerably. However, she likes to be rubbed dry. So, this is the game we play: she comes back in soaked to the bone, I dutifully fetch a towel and rub her dry, she jumps onto the settee to lick her paws, jumps off it and places herself in front of the door to the terrace and starts to plea. I try to ignore this. My sweetheart supports me, scolding her: “You have to stay inside, You’ve just been outside. What do you want outside in this weather, anyways”. She gives another couple of meek, pleading miaows. I try not to falter. She puts her front paws up the door, now strongly indicating her urge to go outside. I still resist. Until she uses the ultimate weapon. Giving me the kitten stare. Tilting her head just so, making her eyes a perfect round, looking up at me so very longingly, I finally turn the handle and let her out again. She happily jumps into the garden, disappearing into the shrubs. Three minutes later she is back in, soaking wet. Watching me fetch the towel. She likes to play this game all afternoon. Kind of keeps me occupied on an otherwise boring Sunday afternoon.

I first thought, she likes me, but it is the terry cloth, really. I lived in the delusion, she likes to sit on my lap in the mornings, but she just likes my bathrobe, made of this fabric. I discovered this sad truth, when she left our bed a couple of weeks ago and took to sleeping on the clothes horse I had put up in the hall. On top I had left some dry towels to be stacked away in the cupboard the next day. From this day on in, she preferred the clothes horse to our bed for her beauty sleep. This changed only, when she – with whatever movement –  toppled over the entire clothes horse with her terry bed on top over night. Must have really scared her, so she went back to sleep with us once again. Maybe I will get terry cloth bedding, just to keep the cat happy.