So, since The Incident with the bats and the bugs happened, the cats have been banned from the top floor this whole time. (I didn’t want them dragging hitchhiker bugs around the house.) Ralph is most despondent about this.
See, Ralph and Lloyd have a little routine. During the school year, Ralph waits for Lloyd to get out of the shower, then sprawls his big ol’ self on the bathroom counter so Lloyd will skritch his belly. (The first time I realized they had this ritual, my feelings were deeply, deeply hurt. Ralph was supposed to love me, but he doesn’t.) This morning, I was downstairs eating when Ralph heard Lloyd get in the shower. He planted himself by the door to the stairs and yowled and yowled. There was no comforting him. When Lloyd finally came downstairs I said, “Your buddy wants you.”
They went to the downstairs bathroom where skritching commenced. Ralph was so happy, he slid into the ‘good sink’. He fits much better in it’s wider opening.
This photo was taken five minutes after the skritching was over. He was very, very happy.
Brad says
Awww… It’s a sink-full of cat. Ralph is so big and so cute.
Mark Hofman says
Curious…
What’s the distinction between “scratching” and “skritching”? I love the visuality of the word, and the happiness it gives my brain when I think it or speak it. But I also confess I don’t understand why it does.
Lauren says
It is a happy word! I think ‘scratching’ is with the intent to stop an itch. ‘Skritching’ is a curled-fingered dig into fur with the intent to make a creature happy. 🙂 Also, autocorrect doesn’t like that word.
Kristi says
It looks like Ralph just got a really good spa session.