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The cat and the sunbeam 

April 18, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Keith Schell

As with most cats, our cat loved to sleep in the sun. Like a solar panel designed to follow the sun throughout its trajectory to maximize the absorption of light and warmth, our cat diligently followed the sunbeam throughout the house and seized the opportunity to bask in its warmth and sneak a snooze in it on a regular basis.

Wherever the sunbeam was shining, there was our cat. If the sunbeam was warmly shining through the patio doors onto the living room floor, there was our cat. If the sunbeam was warmly shining on the living room couch, there was our cat. If the sunbeam was warmly shining through the bedroom windows onto one of our beds, there was our cat, always lying in the sunbeam, basking in its glowing warmth and having a little snooze.   

As our cat got older, sleeping in the sun became one of the great passions of her life. If you were ever looking for our cat, just look for a sunbeam warmly shining through a window someplace and usually there she was.  

As we were having a family discussion around the kitchen table one spring afternoon, the sun came out, shining brightly and warmly through the dining room picture window. It shone directly on the kitchen table and made the surface of the table very warm. 

While we were talking, our furry little sun-worshipper slowly padded into the room. Seeing the sunbeam shining through the window onto the kitchen table, she walked over to the table as we were talking and hopped up on the only empty chair that was left around the table. Surprised by her actions, we began to look at the cat as she stared intently at the sunbeam shining in on the kitchen table. She knew she wasn’t allowed on the table so we really didn’t think too much about what she was doing. We had always given our cat the run of the house with the exception of the kitchen and dining room food preparation surfaces, like the kitchen table and countertops, the stovetop, and to a lesser extent, our big upright freezer lid because we didn’t want her on any of the food-contact surfaces in the house for health and sanitary reasons.  

But there comes a point in an old cat’s life when they are just going to do what they want to do whether you like it or not.

And with that, our cat jumped from the chair up onto the kitchen table and lay down in the sunbeam in the middle of the table while the entire family was sitting around the table staring at her!

We were momentarily flabbergasted, staring open-mouthed at each other in disbelief as our cat lay down in the warmth of the sunbeam shining on the kitchen table.  

She knew she wasn’t allowed on the kitchen table! And we couldn’t believe she would hop up on the table with all of us sitting right there! But our old cat wanted what she wanted and that was that. 

So what did we do? After recovering from our initial shock, we picked her up off the table. She sagged like a limp dishrag in our hands as we lifted her from the table back down to the floor. We set her back down on the floor with a stern “NO! BAD KITTY!” and gave her a light little tap on the rump as a reminder that she had done something bad.

And what did the cat do? Doing what she always did on those rare times when we had to scold her, she meowed defiantly right back at us and sulked as she walked away. 

In hindsight, I believe this was not so much an act of defiance as it was just a ‘too old to give a damn anymore’ thing. The sunbeam was right there, the old cat wanted what she wanted, and that was all there was to it. She wanted her place in the sun that day, so to speak, and so she took it.  

In a way, we kind of hated to do that to our cat. She was a very good cat, loving and beloved, and in her sunset years when this happened. Old pets and old people have so few pleasures left to them in their waning years that you really hate to deny them anything if you could help it. 

She was a very clean cat all her life, but even at her advanced age we still felt we had to hold the line on this one for obvious health and sanitary reasons. 

And after that day, our cat never hopped back up on the kitchen table to bask in the sun again. 

At least, not while anybody else was in the house!    


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