What does an 85-year old retired Air Force colonel and long time educator do at 2 AM Monday?
He has just awakened from his first short nap of the night. ( from about 11PM til 1:30AM). Sleeping through the night ceased years ago. Sleep is now a series of short naps, if I’m lucky. Here’s what the Old Man does. Ready??
He plays “Throw the Springy Toy” with his cat, Ziva.
This is not “ Fetch” that you happily play with your friendly dog. Where you throw the toy and tell your dog to Fetch. And he happily runs to get it and brings it back to you.
No, this is “Throw”. Totally controlled by the cat. She brings the Springy toy to the bed where you’re trying to get back to sleep. She drops it on your chest or very near you and demands “Throw” to you. When you hesitate, her eyes and body say, “I said, Throw, damn it.“
You obediently throw Springy and she jumps off the bed and in seconds, brings it back and says, “ Throw” again That cycle continues until she decides that’s enough and just quits. No ”Thank you”. “Good Night”. “ Kiss my butt” or nuttin. She just quits. If you try to quit first, you get reprimanded with a paw or an extended claw. “i’ll let you know when it’s time to quit. “.
BTW. She just quit and I’m laying here in “Quietude”. Trying to get back to sleep. In a couple hours I gotta get up, get dressed, feed Ziva, and put her in carrier, cause the house cleaner is coming and we need to keep Ziva corralled while they clean. I gotta leave by 7AM to go get a new freakin tire.
Such is life for this 85-year old dude. Enuf