I still maintain that I get better material for quirky stories and occurances during the school year, but I have recently stumbled across another curious subject: my cousin's cats. He owns three, and they are all indoor cats that live in his two-room apartment at a boarding school dorm. On top of that, two of them of weigh over twenty pounds. (Surprisingly, his home actually smells decent.)

The two main coons are name Calvin and Hobbes, and the other, a normal-sized white mut-cat, is named Sasha. Calvin and Hobbes are adorable - at first. They cuddle and play; they're excited to see me whenever I stop over; and they're meows are hilariously just like any other cat - small.

Anyway, I've been taking care of these three for the past week while my cousin stays over in Virginia, and today is the first day I've actually seen Sasha. Unlike the other two, she is skiddish and shy, hiding somewhere small and cramped (and unbeknownst to me) in that tiny apartment. Cats are funny like that - if they want to hide, they'll find a way. And I might not have known that Sasha existed until today if it hadn't been for my cousin insisting he owned a third cat.

Hobbes is another matter. He curls up on my lap and starts meowing happily. Then, he bite my hand, drag into his claws, and start licking it. It's hard to discern his emotions, as he shows affection with teeth, claws, tail, purr, meow, tongue, and all. But I'm farily certain that he's simply always happy.

And then there's the calendar. One of the cats, while home without any humans, has been stalker my cousin's calendar and destroying it month by month. It used to hang above their cat dishes, but then I found it on the floor one day with April mutilated. I placed it on the counter out of their reach, or so I thought. Then, sure enough, August and March were attacked. Not wanting a reoccurance, I stored it above the fridge, but somehow, the cat (or cats, I suppose) found it and finished off August before extracting the rest of the months and littering them about the apartment. The only months left unmarked are December and February. I'm not sure if there's a reason, but I get the feeling there may be. Never underestimate the intelligence (or impertinence) of cats.

So, it's nothing special, but I found it an interesting observation.