Quiet Wanda

Wanda has changed a lot since she was a young whippersnapper.  She's gotten more calm--plays it safe more.  When she was a younger cat she would leap from our washing machine up to the top of the door leading out to the back porch and perch there, chirping happily when someone eventually went back to the utility room.  Her self-satisfied expression seemed to indicate that she was pretty darn proud of herself for making the leap successfully.  

Ditto for the times at our second house, when she would leap into the area above the cabinets in the kitchen.  Our house had very tall ceilings, and she would pride herself on making you do double- and triple-takes when you would hear Wanda barking at you from somewhere that was definitely above your head.  Up and up your eyes would swivel until you reached that point that seemed impossibly high, and there she would be, looking at you like she dared you to try to retrieve her.

Sometimes she set her sights not quite so high, aiming instead for the inside of the linen closet.  When she would jump in there and perch, we somehow accidentally came up with a new game, called "Quiet Wanda."  It went like this:  Wanda would bark/chirp at you from the closet, and we would respond back in a whisper to her and say "Quiet Wanda..."  Not like a command, exactly.  More like a statement of fact that she then decided to take under consideration.  And consider it she did:  when you say "Quiet Wanda" to Wanda, she actually gets quiet.  She still chirps at you, but it's more of a whisper.  Sometimes it comes out like a gentle little croak--like she's putting a lot of effort into being quiet.  We discovered that we can do the same thing now, even if she's not in the linen closet.  Sometimes she's just under the covers, or on the bed, and if we say "Quiet Wanda" to her in a whisper, then she starts whispering back at us.  Maybe she was a librarian in a past life?  Only Wanda knows for certain, and she's not tellin'.

One thing's for sure, though--when you see that maniacal glint in Wanda's eye and she's looking around carefully for potential perches, it's best to be paying attention.  Preferably looking up.