Dear LPG,

I wonder if the member of so many families that is often most taken for granted during ordinary times has been getting more attention than usual over the past year or so?

They seem to get pampered by the very young and the very old while the working members of the family often have little time for them.  Lockdown has had a way of forcing us to look at and take notice of so many facets of the world around us that preparing for our daily appointments and routines routinely take away from us even though they are always there.   

But today I am talking about our cats.  We are the nation known for being pet lovers and, after our dogs, they are still the second most popular pet owned in the UK.   We feed them, let them out and in, spend time calling them when they won’t come in at night, love them, give them a gentle cuddle or pat on the head and enjoy them, but there is often so little time to focus our powers of observation in their direction for any real length of time.

Having that extra time to just sit and watch my cat brought out the poet in me and I suggest that, while we can, we all take just a little more time to watch…

LIGHT AS A FEATHER

The feather floats down
somersaulting, spinning,
noiseless, weightless,
yet ruled by gravity.

The cat leaps up to the sofa back,
noiseless, seemingly weightless,
relentlessly defying gravity.
Both are silent, until the cat purrs.

FM 05/01/2021