The Cat Who Rings My Chimes

A true story of animal persistence

Anyone who owns a cat (or perhaps it is more accurate to say ‘anyone who is owned by a cat’), knows that cats are very determined creatures, intent on getting their own way.

This seems to be especially true in the morning.

Cats do not need alarm clocks, phone alerts, or soft music to nudge them awake each morning . Cats wake up when they intend to; and that means, of course, that they expect their humans to rise and shine as well.

I have a black cat named Bruce. In personality, size, and temperament he is quite different from his little tortoiseshell sister Bonnie.

When Bonnie wants to wake me in the morning, she gets close to my face and gently tickles me with her whiskers.

Bruce, taking a more direct tactic, delivers a volley of head butts to my sleeping face.

Bonnie continues her wake up call with soft, affectionate purring in my ear. Bruce, disdaining such diplomacy, walks over my stomach and jumps on my head.

It may seem churlish of me not to respond to their insistent efforts; but the fact is that I am not really at my best at 5:45 AM when they seem most intent on demanding their breakfast.

If her attempts to wake me fail, Bonnie usually relents. She curls up at my feet, and like a feline snooze button, gives me some respite, for perhaps another 25 minutes.

Bruce, however, is made of sterner stuff. And although I can hardly believe it, he has figured out a way to get me up every morning, no matter how sleepy I am.

He has figured out how to ring my chimes.

Now, I am not implying some sort of semi-sexual innuendo here. I am talking about Bruce reaching up and ringing actual brass chimes.

I am the proud owner of a beautiful set of brass chimes, calibrated to a lovely, wistful sound. I hang them from a dogwood tree where they catch any steady breeze, filling the air for a few moments with a magical melody.

I love these chimes and would not think of leaving them outside during a cold, often snowy New England winter. So in November I usually remove the chimes from the tree and bring them…

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