Chez World

PLAYING in My World

Chester and teddy bear.

On the Virtues of

Strings, Sticks and Teddy Bears

Several times a day I take a break from sleeping and go a few rounds with one of my toys. The Bear (pictured at left -- he's the ugly one) is stuffed with catnip, so I like to relax with him after a long, hard day spent hiding from children and dump trucks. The best toys of all, though, are strings. What do other cats see in balls? Don't ask me -- I don't get it. They aren't even stuffed with catnip! They're just these stupid plastic things. It boggles the mind. Anyway, the best toy of all is The Stick (pictured below), which I play with exactly seventeen times a day. Sometimes more. The Stick has been in my life now for about a year, and even though I've shredded it to bits several times over, I feel like we're just getting to know one another. I'm sure our relationship will continue to deepen as time goes on.

New Strings for an Old Stick

The stick toy.

For those of you not in the know, The Stick is the absolutely unparalleled plaything that Torrey made for me last year. Originally The Stick had leaves, actual real leaves -- she had trimmed it from the bamboo plant outside the front window. Now that was fabulous. I love everything that comes from the outside world. Unfortunately, at first I ate all of the leaves (which definitely unsettled my stomach), but Torrey saved the day by tying a bunch of short strings onto the end. Wow! I thought The Stick couldn't get any better, but I sure was wrong: this thing is truly inspirational. To catch The Stick I often jump as much as three feet in the air (of course, my jumps have gotten a bit smaller as my belly has gotten a bit bigger). Every few months, Torrey replaces the shredded old strings with new strings. This is a major event in my life. I would write more about it, but now I really have to go play with The Stick.

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