Happy New Year! Here in the Buddy household we celebrated New Year's Eve with some special "party mix" treats that the Buddies got from their extended family. Otto nearly took my hand off reaching up in his bear claw grip to grab one. One time, he knocked three pieces of treat out of my hand at one time, conveniently allowing them to bounce in two different directions, directly under the noses of Elroy and Reggie. Honestly, there's no way in the world we could have planned that. It was kind of priceless.
But New Year's wouldn't be New Year's without a few resolutions. This year, I've got a pretty long list, but topping that list are the following: 1.) Meditate more, in keeping with my Buddhist leanings, and 2.) Never let a moment go by that I don't acknowledge the Buddies when they're needing attention and shower them with love whenever possible. I've noticed that I can sometimes, though rarely, be dismissive of them, particularly when I'm stressed or extremely busy, or working on something on the computer that needs my undivided attention. Inevitably, that will be when Reggie also needs my undivided attention, which he communicates by trying repeatedly (and failing) to jump into my lap. Eventually, I will pull Reggie up to my lap, at which point he will walk around on my desk, my keyboard, my laptop, my fingers, and anything else he can get his little paws on. Mister will usually jump behind me on my chair and wait patiently for me to pet him. Sometimes I do, but sometimes I don't, and that kind of bothers me. He is turning 15 this year, after all. And none of the Buddies are exactly Spring Chickens at this point. So this year, Rule Number One, (even though I named it second up there) is to always give the Buddies attention when they ask for it. And slip in some extra attention liberally, even when they don't ask for it.
Meditating this morning presented me with an interesting dilemma: concentrate on meditating, or acknowledge that Otto is standing right next to me going "MRRRRROW!!" I opened my eyes, gave him a scritch, and said his name lovingly. He moved along, and I went back to meditating. Then Mister started rubbing up against my back. I reached behind my back and gave him a little rub-down. Went back to meditating. Heard Otto jump up on my desk, which sometimes can spell trouble, particularly if he's in the mood to mark something. Asked him nicely to jump down, and after looking at me incredulously for a few moments, his big blue eyes wide with what looked like mock annoyance, he did jump down. Onto the windowsill. Hey, it was a start.
After several minutes of no interruptions, I thought I felt a tickle on my right hand, which was resting on my knee. I glanced down, and there was Mister, meditating right alongside me. We were sitting in front of a space heater (even enlightenment can be chilly sometimes), and he had his eyes nearly closed, facing into the warm. He was very still, in that way only cats can be, ears relaxed, whiskers slightly forward, and I'm certain that he was going deep within, trading his "Om" for a "Purr." The best part was, I didn't have to choose between my two resolutions. Mister, bless his wise sweet soul, made sure of that.
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