The Suitcase Lady

Rooster

March 10, 2020, 8:34 pm

We don’t have any roosters at our house, but we might as well have. We have a morning sentinel who moist vociferously greets the dawn each day. Our rooster is in the guise of a cat.

Stripe, a handsome dilute tabby, was a feral cat until we took him in one night a year ago when the temperature was -23 degrees. He is now an extraordinarily loving indoor cat who has adjusted quickly to the indoor life…except in the pre-dawn hours.

Stripe seems to think that the sun will not rise without his help. About a half-hour before sunrise, he starts yowling and running from window to window, checking for progress. These actions are punctuated by him jumping on me to make sure I know he is on the job. I do know, and tell him I think the situation is under control, the sun will rise.

My assurances don’t help, and he continues caterwauling and running around. Being a night person, I am not delighted to have a thirteen-pound alarm clock each morning. I learned ages ago that dawn takes care of itself and that sunsets are more my style.

However, I’m fairly certain that Stripe’s behavior is one of the hard-wired ones like chasing mice or grooming. I’m happy he is inside and safe from cars on our busy road, predators and the neighbor’s dog. So my best option seems to be pulling the covers over my head and trying to get back to sleep. Failing this, I can always just stay in bed and write a blog.

After we are up and about, it doesn’t take Stripe long to figure out he needs to take his mid-morning nap. He jumps up on our freshly made bed, curls up and falls asleep instantly. It’s hard work getting the sun over the horizon every morning.

Stripe


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