Well, I’ve been pondering again. Mel has told me several times I’m just like that woman on Steel Magnolias, “Robbin your just too twisted for color tv.”

But I can’t help it if I have an inquisitive mind. You know, I guess it started the other night when I was eating some orange-flavored cobbler. I was just about finished when the cat Daisy decided to jump on the chair with me. I guess she wanted a taste.

Now normally she has nothing to do with me, period, but all of a sudden, now we were best buddies. So being the nice guy I am, I gave her a taste, and that got the ball rolling. That’s when my best buddy showed up, Doc, with a look on his face, of “HEY HEY HEY, I thought I was your one and only.” I mean he was ticked off, like I had betrayed him or something, like I had went over to the enemy.  And that got me to thinking...

These animals don’t realize they are animals. Nope, we’re blood relatives. Somewhere along the way the line had been crossed, and they were my kids too. Here I am giving one of them something, and the other one get’s jealous. To the point where, I was having to make sure one got the same amount as the other. Just like when Jessie and Katie were little. I had to make sure that both got the exact same amount, and if the other took to long to eat it, then I was naturally giving the other more. And that‘s favoritism, “You love her more Daddy than me,” now where did that come from?

But I’ve got to admit, Doc’s the worst about it. When he was a pup, I let him sleep in my lap, now he’s like a 30-pound sack of ‘tater’s jumping on my lap. But every great once in a while Daisy will decide it’s her turn, but that cat’s so devious, I really think she knows she’s starting something.

First she’ll get jump on the arm of the chair and just stand there a minute, making sure everybody, and you know who I’m talking about, everybody sees her. Then she takes about five minutes of poking and prodding me till she get’s just that right spot, then finally, she settles in. And that’s when she really sticks it to him. She starts purring, loud enough for the neighbors to hear, and anybody else who might be listening.

Then here he comes. First he gets just high enough to lay his head on my leg, and give me one of the most saddest looks you’ve ever seen, you know, ‘You don’t love me no more.” Then after five minutes of the guilt complex, here he comes. The only problem is, she’s on one leg, so he lands on the other. The after a minute or two of him dancing around, finding just the right spot, he settles in. And that’s when the games really begin.

They just stare at each other. If one puts a paw somewhere, so does the other. If one shifts one way, so does the other, never once taking their eyes off each other. And me, I’m just sitting there real quiet, cause if a fight breaks out, guess who’s gonna get the worst end of the deal, ME.

But it’s not always like this. Most of the time they don’t even acknowledge the other’s alive. But you can tell they’ve picked up on each others habits.

That’s like flopping, those two love to flop in the middle of the floor, especially when they see me coming. Most of you who know me know walking isn’t my strong suit. I have to use a stick most of the time. But it’s gotten to be a game with them. They’ll see me coming, raise there head up, and you can almost see it in there eyes, ‘GO AROUND.” Can’t you feel the love, and after I poke them with the stick, they can too.

But what goes around comes around. Especially in the summer time, cause that’s when we have the storms.

And to say that freaks them out, well that would be an understatement. When a bolt of lightning pops, that’s when the devil in me decides to feed Daisy “Her Kitty Kitty.” Now you know she ain’t coming out of that hole she’s buried her self in, and trust me, I can feel her cussing me out.

And as for Doc, have you ever seen a Beagle have a nervous breakdown? Cause when it’s lightning, all he wants to do is hug my neck. If I’m laid across the bed, sitting in the chair, or in the kitchen, he’s stuck to me like glue. And I mean stuck. I couldn’t pry him off with a claw hammer. Doesn’t he know I’ve got enough metal in my knees to be a human lightning rod?

I guess that’s why I’m so glad when Mel and the kids get home in the evening. I’ve been baby sitting all day, and I’m just tuckered out. But every time I get aggravated, Katie’s words ring in my ear...

“But Daddy, they love you.” Yeah right, I’m just comfortable.