Just as I was finishing college, a cat at the family home (daughter of a cat I rescued from being euthanized when it became a "bother"... a whole other story) had a litter of kittens. When only a week old, I got my first good look at them. The mother cat was a slender calico who always got into mischief. Like her, 3 of the kittens had the pointy face and short hair. However, they were orange tabby colored. Then there was the 4th one who really caught my eye. She was a tortoise color, with longer silkie hair than her siblings. And her head was more rounded. Clearly, mom got around.....
I picked up this little tortie (she fit into the palm of my hand) and fell in love. She didn't really have her eyes fully open yet so just sniffed around, figuring that whatever was moving her around must be mom so milk must be somewhere nearby. Mom did keep them well fed as this little one was almost as wide as she was long!
A week later, she could see so knew when I picked her up that I was not mom! Instinctively, she tried to hiss at me..... nothing but a little hot breath came out of her crinkled mouth. I put her up to my face, looked her in the eye and said "Who you hissing at?". She gave up.
As she and her siblings grew, they moved from the garage where they were born to the backyard. They would play among the plants, well protected by the solid fence all the way around the yard. One day I went out there and did not see them anywhere. Then I happened to look into an empty clay pot on the backyard table and found all four of the kittens piled on each other in this pot in the sun. They were so hot, especially those on the bottom. How they were able to breathe in there was beyond me. I put them, still in the pot, into some shade to prevent any more overheating.
Maybe this is when she developed her love of lying in the sunshine.
As she grew, she lived with me in my apartments. At every chance, she would sit or lie on a shelf at the window where the sunlight would hit her. Then in the last rental, the sun would shine into the bedrooms. This was great - she used shelving to help get on the bed (higher than many) and bask in the light while sinking into the comforter, aahhhhhh..... There were times when I would have to move her so she wouldn't get overheated (again!); she'd be almost like a ragdoll, she was so relaxed.
And when the sun would move, she would move with it. Especially on winter days, she wanted that light. When it would no longer be shining where she could reach it, she would come to me to complain. Me, being the controller of all things for comfort (food, water, clean box), was supposed to be able to keep the sunshine accessible. If she could have, she would have grabbed it with her claws and keep it on her all the time.
Even though she's gone now, every time the sun shines on the bed, I know she's enjoying the warmth and that makes me smile.
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