Every two weeks we have a young Latina lady that comes to do the heavy house cleaning. She loves our kitties but they are not that fond of her. She always arrives early, usually before 8:00AM. Miles, Desi and when we had Leo, would usually still be lounging in the house before going outside to their daily routine. When the housekeeper arrives and just before she knocks, the boys start scurrying under furniture. We have never figured out how they can detect her presence. At that point they can't see her and she hasn't uttered a sound.

As she goes about her business, getting on her hands and knees cleaning, and then vacuuming, the cats would make a hasty dash from under one piece of furniture to another. As they do this, their bellies never leave the ground and they remain in this crouched position until either Lily or I can let them outside. It's an absolutely hilarious scene and the housekeeper gets a big charge out of it even though she gets startled at times.

So no matter where Lily or I are, whether upstairs or downstairs, when we hear that lady's squeal that's part delight and fright, we know that a cat has busted another move on a belly-dragging day.

Copyright © Bill Franks
April 6, 2002