It's a 7 Cat Night

It suddenly turned cold in Western Pennsylvania. So cold that all of the cats have decided they need to suck body heat from their mama. I'm not sure why they want to do this, because my bedroom happens to be the coldest room in this 82-year-old house. They could easily sleep in a warmer room. But they don't. Or maybe they're very generously sharing their body heat with poor me.

Good thing I'm not a large person, because as you can see, it's not a large bed; and on a cold night, there will be up to nine little furry bodies smooshed up against every part of me. One on my pillow wrapped around my head, two on either side of me, one curled up behind my knees, one on my feet, and always, little Domino under the covers with my arm around him and his head on my shoulder. No kidding. While I'm reading my book, he climbs up to the spot and stares at me until I lift the covers up for him, then he scooches his little butt down underneath and stretches his two front legs across my shoulder.

I found Domino by the side of the road where someone had abandoned him at 4 weeks of age. Too young to be taken from his mama. I bottle-fed him for a couple weeks, holding him in my arm like a baby. He is now 8 years old and still suckles on the inside of my elbow from time to time. He's such a baby. He will stay there under the covers all night, or at least until I have to get up to pee.

That in itself is a major undertaking. It's 3 a.m. and I'm going, "excuse me, I need to get up, can you move please?" Of course it annoys them immensely and I apologize for disturbing their sleep. But they sure do keep me warm.