All in one post; how could I possibly go wrong?  Read more…

cats are not concerned with comment
they live and sleep upon the moment
free from this and and free from that
they ponder not, then take a nap

++++

Prompted by this comment. That's my baby, back when he was a youngling and was trapped in a sunbeam. He and his sister are my world, as in any cat-ruled household. Life is never that bad when one or both are purring somewhere on/near me.

Pets have been shown to do all sorts of good things for people. From saving their lives to improving health, providing companionship and moments of Grace...I can't imagine life without pets. And gosh darn it, I honestly believe there's one type of pet right for everyone, even the very poor or highly allergic.

And I like cats! WaPo:

Large-scale grain agriculture began in the Near East's Fertile Crescent. With the storage of surplus grain came mice, which fed on it and contaminated it.

Settled farming communities with dense rodent populations were a new habitat. Wildcats came out of the woods and grasslands to exploit it. They may have lived close to man -- but not petting-close -- for centuries.

Eventually, though, natural selection favored individual animals whose genetic makeup by chance made them tolerant of human contact. Such behavior provided them with things -- a night indoors, the occasional bowl of milk -- that allowed them to out-compete their scaredy-cat relatives.

For people, it was a great package -- agriculture, food surplus (and all the civilizing effects that came with it), with domesticated cats thrown in to protect the wealth by eating the mice.

But my cat knows me! I swear!