Staring Contest

"...there she was, on top of my bed, staring at the wall."

Everyone has  a moment in their lives where they act downright strange, and Nutmeg is no exception. Among her many quirks is her ability to stare at something for an extended period of time.  It can be anything. This time, it was her faint reflection in the shine of the paint on my wall.  I was tempted to bring her a mirror, but I didn't want to scare her.  She knew I was watching her, but her eyes never wavered from the cat staring back at her.  Blinking was rare.  Cats can go without blinking for a considerable amount of time when they want to.  They are bound by the same impulse to blink their eyes as often as we do, but can suppress the desire for extended periods of time if necessary.  People unaccustomed to the ways of cats can be easily unnerved by the unblinking stare of a cat.  In fact, they stare only because they are interested in the subject. (Why do Cats Stare?)  A word of wisdom to those of you who aren't familiar with cats, never get in a staring contest with one, because you will always lose.  The only way you will win is if the cat gets bored enough to look away.  Nutmeg's quirks are what develop her personality.  She never ceases to fascinate me.

The Non-Adventures of Nutmeg

She has always been afraid of everything.  Yes; everything.  People, loud noises, vacuums, shoes, soft noises, mops, creaking stairs, etc.  You name it, she is scared of it.  So naturally, when the construction started in our kitchen, she took sanctuary under my parents' bed.   The shine of her pale green eyes was barely visible from within the darkness.  I looked at her from the outskirts of the bed, and our eyes locked.  I could see nothing but her eyes, and they never moved.  She was always alert, ready to retreat to the asylum that total darkness offered.  It appears to calm her. Darkness, an agitator of humans, and a soother of cats.

There is one characteristic that is common to all indoor cats, they always want to go outside. Nutmeg, like her four predecessors, is an indoor cat. All four of the cats that have come and gone had strove to escape the walls I call home. They lived by the doors of my house, waiting for an oblivious passerby to crack the door long enough for them to slip out. Nutmeg is different. She is a skittish cat, and is quite easily scared. As a result, she has no desire to venture beyond the walls of my house. I have tested this, too. I have opened the door as wide as possible with her standing next to me and she skittered away from the door, not through it. She is truly one of a kind. It is normal for a cat to yearn for the outdoors. So, by definition, Nutmeg is not normal. That's fine with me. I'm not normal by the definition put in place by society, so we fit perfectly together. Normal is too mainstream.

An Overview of Cat

For the majority of my observations, my cat slept.  She seems to do that a lot.  Occasionally, she would meander around the house, bumping into assorted furniture.  But even in her sleep, there is beauty to be seen.  I saw things I had never seen before.  Her whiskers shift with her breathing, and will twitch every now and then.  Her tail will twitch as well, and will maneuver as if she is awake.  Who knows, she could be awake, wondering why in the world I am staring at her so intently.  She also sleeps on her stomach, always.  It really doesn't look that comfortable, but she seems to find enjoyment in it.  Her fur is the most spectacular of all, however.  Each of her hairs has many colors streaked across it, some having up to six different colors.  It gives her a very speckled coat of brown (dark and light), black and white, and it shines in the sun.  Already these observations have shown me things I had overlooked for years, and this is only the beginning.