Juggling 101- A Primer

It happened infrequently enough that we would let our vigilence slip. We would be walking in an unconcerned fashion along the hallway upstairs, when suddenly there was a cat on our shoulder. Sindbad! He would leap from the floor to the top of an open door, and then wait for one of his unsuspecting humans to walk by in an unconcerned fashion. Then he would simply drop a couple of feet to the unsuspecting shoulder. It was always good for a "Hey!" or a shriek. Then he would pur in our ear until we calmed down. What a great game!

If we saw him up there, he would pretend to be merely lounging, as he often did. If we reached for him, he would jump down the other side of the door. No, the game was the surprise shoulder leap. This was generally more effective than the jump up from behind shoulder leap, which he also did. And sometimes, when he was feeling generous, he would crouch in front of us and leap up without the element of surprise. The down side of that one was that we (I) could step aside and he would go flying by with a look of horror on his face- not that he was scared, no- he was outsmarted! It didn't happen often.

Yes, Sindbad introduced me to the world of cat juggling, learning what a cat is all about and using that knowledge to manipulate them. Not that I ever have the upper hand, you understand, only that whenever necessary I can use my knowledge to steer even four cats at a time in a direction of my choosing. Of course, each time is the only time a particular trick will work. It's a full time job, this cat juggling.