Rainy Day Observations

Apparently, the weather folk were serious about Rainy Season this year. It's been spritzing on and off for three days now, the lame tail end of the monster storm system that's been tearing up the rest of the country, and shows little sign of stopping soon.

This morning I spent two hours flaying mangoes. There are still a dozen left on the counter and I'm running out of airtight containers. My brother takes a half pint container with him to work every day although he almost always brings back leftovers. Almost every day lately my breakfast has consisted of a bowl of cubed mango with blueberries and chopped strawberries usually augmented with juice, a slice of cantaloupe and a chunk of buttered bread or an English muffin. We're testing to see how long it takes before even the perfect breakfast becomes monotonous and I'm betting we'll still have plenty of mangoes left when it does.

The kittens have discovered bugs. Flying ones make them crazy and they will run heedless across the house jumping blindly in their attempts to catch one on the fly, as it were. They've also discovered, now that they're about 2/3 mom-sized, they can "play" with mom like they do with each other (meaning kicking and biting and throwdowns that would make the WWF proud). Last night they chased her all around the living room. She leaped up on the coffee table at full speed, hit the slick and glossy Hammacher Schlemmer catalog, slid completely across the table and back onto the floor where they tackled her. She's developing a shell-shocked, slightly haunted look in those golden eyes.

Mittens has also learned the phrase, "Naughty kitten!" means "Get your fuzzy little butt off the counter/toaster/stove right now!" especially when accompanied by a Serious Glare. Sometimes the Glare alone suffices, but only if I'm right in her face. Paribanour doesn't climb forbidden objects nearly as much.

This morning, both kittens squeezed onto the kitchen windowsill and sat with their noses pressed against the glass while a rain-soaked blue jay perched less than a foot away in the bougainvillea and taunted them.

Meanwhile, Bartleby has taken to living perched on the top of the back of a lawn chair under the live oak where it's mostly dry. She has a standing invitation to move back into the house but only comes down for food and drinks.