Welcome to the Three A.M. Club, Population: Me

Dear All,

Once again it has come to my attention that I am wide awake. Honestly, I wish I were this awake in the morning. I have energy despite being tired- not enough to bake a cake, water my plants or clean the toilets, but certainly enough to put hands to keyboard.

For some reason I am often unable to sleep at this hour, where as sometime between ten a.m. and two p.m. I must take a nap. People tell me this has something to do with eating too many carbohydrates at lunch. Even when I was a kid I had a dip in my energy level after lunch. Then, however, didn't have the luxury of indulging it. I probably slept better at night as a result.

My cats Molley and Cici are nice company at night. They are warm, soft and unassuming. Right now, Cici is perched on the back of my chair. This is an arrangement we have come to after many hours of her rubbing her face on my hand and stepping all over the keyboard when I am trying to type. The cats have made an uneasy peace. Cici's territory is more downstairs, and Molley's is upstairs. She can be found at the foot of the bed on most occasions, ready to wake me up and walk on me at a moment's notice. Busy kitty. And yet the companionship is very nice.

Through many three a.m.s I have learned about non-verbal communication. The house is silent. Usually I have my ear plugs in anyway. Communication is achieved through touch. There are rules: syntax, grammar, a lexicon. For example, a sequence might occur this way: [call] scratch the top of the head, the back of the neck, ([response] from the cat: rub, rub with the cheek), [call] scratch under the chin, ([response] an elongated neck is produced for better scratching, then about face), [call] touch a paw, ([response] about face rub, rub with the cheek, mouth open). Sometimes this will repeat several times, the order unchanged, then, the cat, sated will lie down at my feet.

My early morning interactions with my cats are very pleasant, and blissfully silent, except of course if my husband is asleep. Then our silent cat, Molley, will make the loudest sound she makes throughout the course of the day.

It's three a.m. Inexplicably, I know exactly where the cats are.

Sincerely,
Betsy