People have consumed catnip for a long time. Catnip has a reputation for having all sorts of good nutrients in the leaves, vitamins and minerals. You can add it to salads and I have. I have also put two big leaves in a cup and poured boiling water over it and left it to steep for 10 minutes after covering. Then I put in decaf coffee and brown sugar. Very relaxing. Don't forget to use Decaffeinated coffee. No point in doing Uppers and Downers together here.

But I have felt deprived of catnip lately. I did not follow through on my intentions to plant lots of new catnip plants last year and that was a mistake. I had just two plants left. One I transferred to a huge strawberry jar with a drying problem and lost it. Deus rearing to rip to off leaves didn't help. Then CAT ate all the leaves off my one remaining potted plant and with other abuse it didn't have the zip to get through the winter.

It was a pathetic little knob anyway. Setting in the sun too much, it had dried up before I caught it. I transplanted to save the plant as growth was restarting at the root. The soil settled down around the transplant plug after two or three rains and it stuck up above the dirt. And there were some very short dead stem ends sticking out but in general it was a knob sticking up level with the pot edge.

I abused it by picking off leaves for the cats while it was trying to restart so that left a delicious odor wafting about the pot. Then sitting on the porch, I was treated to the spectacle of my three cats (one marmalade, another with white paws & nose, one tabby brindle cat, and one stray-black & white) arriving at the pot one right after another and vigorously rubbing their chin and cheeks back and forth across the top of the knob and the points of those sticks.

Back and forth, back and forth and it went on for two or three minutes for each cat. Eyes partly closed. Neck extended. First one side and then the other. Under the chin. On the forehead. With the prompt arrival of each subsequent cat I was more suffused with merriment.

The black and white was hilarious. She tried repeatedly to rub the back of her head on the knob and the gyrations were splendid. Once she fell over on her side so that all I could see was a bit of the rear legs with tail and one white paw hooked over the edge of the pot. The subsequent motions of the exposed parts suggested she was trying to get up. Finally the paw disappeared. Then after a bit she was up again and, after a pause, worked the knob all over once more.

I shall miss that knob.

Copyright © 2000 Sandra Landfried
April 24, 2001