Sprague Parade: National Cat Day!

I just sat down at my computer to drink my mid-morning tea out of my commemorative Moon cat mug that Tyler made for me a few years ago (just an average morning here), and whaddya know, the first news item that popped up on my screen was that it's National Cat Day today.

There's been so much horrible news lately, and often I am consumed by it; I am filled with worry and anxiety nearly every morning when I drop my daughter off at kindergarden, and it keeps me up at night.

Last night, as I lay awake staring at all of my worries dancing around the dark room, out of the blue there came these strange noises from the basement. I swore someone was breaking into our home. So, naturally, all lights on, planning my exit strategy with the girls, and Tyler bravely up to investigate ---

Nope. Not a burglar. Not a creeper. Not an axe murderer.

Just our tiny lady cat, Pigeon.

She was pulling out the drain in the basement sink.....of course! (What else would a cat be doing at 3am??) I told myself she probably was going after a giant spider, and forgave her-- because really there's not much else you can do.

So, cats. Why do we love and keep them? I always joke that living with our two cats is a little like living with two squirrels. They are everywhere, and get into everything. They climb stuff they shouldn't. They ate/tore a hole in one of our doors when they were kittens. They steal food-- recently Pigeon stole a block of cheese off the coffee table during a dinner party-- they jingle around the house and climb our curtains.

But we love them anyway.

Tyler and I were recently talking about why we feel it's important to have animals in our home. Like music, like art, having an animal in your house fills the unseen spaces with this energy that extends beyond what we could do alone as humans. We see our children relate to these creatures-- they learn how to care for something in a gentle way-- they learn hands on (quite literally), how to build a trust between another creature through their actions. It's been a good thing.

So, anyway, on National Cat Day, I would like to share some of my favorite photos with you of past and present cat-kid fun.
Enjoy!