I've been soooo busy, and Lionel gets soooo bored with my sitting at the computer and crankin' out documents. So he's taken to visiting neighbor Debra's house. It's just the door next to mine and I can hear him if he wants to come home when she's not there. She also loves his company. The other night I finished work and went to retrieve him at 1am. She was sprawled across her bed, snoring. TV was blasting! Lionel was lying across her legs (his favorite place) and enthralled with whatever movie was playing. When I walked in he gave me a nice "hi mom, this is a great movie!" Since then, I've let him go visit her place whenever he wants, whether she's around or not. Debra's a major cat person, just doesn't have a live one to herself at the moment. She works in the travel industry and traveling for extended periods and having pets doesn't work too well. She had two (Leo and Yoda) when she moved here from Texas. Yoda got hit by a car and Leo just plain disappeared. She was so cautious about accepting Lionel into her life at first. We've lived in the same house for 17+ years. She's always been the one with the cat. Since I moved here I was reluctant to get a pet because, #1, it's not a place you can let your pets outside because of traffic and other scary things (coyotes come to mind) and #2, I was traveling a lot buying for my antique business. She happened to be in India when Lionel showed up at my doorstep and I had had the pleasure of his company for over a month when she came home. It has taken over a year for her to accept him as family. I know you must be wondering where this story is going by now. Well, it's relevant that this is a gardening site, no matter the introduction. It so happens that Debra is the least plant-friendly person I have yet to meet. She likes them. She loves what I do on our shared deck. But she doesn't have a clue what to do with one. She'll ask me advice on what to do with a plant in her house. My advice is "throw it away, it's dead." "It is?!" Shocked! "Well, it's 100% brown with no leaves on it, yes, I'd say it's probably pretty much dead." The funny thing is, she won't throw it away - for months. It's sentimental! You still wondering where this is going? Well, it seems Lionel is a kindred spirit. He pays absolutely no attention to my plants, inside or out. He likes his fresh catnip but won't attack it until I present it to him as a treat. He's never once been interested in any plant in the place. But he sure loves Debra's dead ones! It cracks me up, the fascination he has for her dead flowers. First, here's a shot of him obsessing on a totally dead orchid blossom tonight.
