At home in Cupar with Ziggy the Cat

Ziggy is the house cat and Margaret the landlord of the house in which
I live in Cupar. Cupar is a town of 8000 people in the Kingdom of Fife,
Scotland. For nearly 16 months I have enjoyed getting to know the peo-
ple of this ancient Scottish town and exploring its streets and byways.
Over the winter I've seen more snow than usual fall on the streets of
Cupar and the surrounding hills.

I have enjoyed getting to know Ziggy the cat, who also lists the place
where I live as his residence. I could say that Ziggy is a ferocious guard
cat, but his gentle and friendly nature would never allow for that in any
way. It has been quite an adventure sharing living space with Ziggy,
about whom I have written in one or two previous blog postings. He has
made a mighty effort to train me to respond to his every request. In
this endeavor, Ziggy has been quite successful.

Ziggy has figured out that Margaret, in her room down the hall, will
not open her door for Ziggy when he paws and scratches her door at
5AM. That's because Margaret is smart and knows her cat. She takes
out her hearing aids when she goes to sleep so she won't hear Ziggy de-
manding her immediate attention. But Jeff, on the other hand, is not
smart like Margaret. Because he is usually up fairly early, is tender
hearted, has been well-trained by the cat, and still has his hearing left,
Ziggy knows that the human will respond immediately when summoned
by his meowing and scratching at the human's bedroom door.

Last summer Ziggy spent a lot of time outside, often until early in the
morning. In the spring, he would be let out around 8PM and stay out
all night. At daylight Ziggy would camp out at the kitchen window,
waiting for me to come down from my room around 6:15AM. Then he
would get my attention and head to the back door to be let in.

But the winter is a different story. Ziggy still wants out around 8PM,
but doesn't stay out the whole night because it is so cold outside!
Trouble is, he wants in when Margaret has gone to sleep and I am up in
my room. No one is in the kitchen to see him and let him in.

Poor, poor Ziggy.

But Ziggy has figured out that he can get up on the roof of a nearby ga-
rage and then jump some ten feet or so to the ledge outside my bed-
room window. It may be late at night and I'm still at my desk, or early
in the morning when I'm asleep, I'll hear a thud at my window followed
by a pathetic little meow. I open the curtains and see Ziggy hugging the
narrow ledge, staring at me, wanting to be let in. I am astonished by his
nerve at the demands he puts on me, but I marvel at his amazing leaping
ability.

During the daytime, Ziggy often takes long naps on my bed as I work
at the desk in my room. Or he settles down on my desk and paws at my
different notes and papers. He's fascinated by such things as paper clips,
iPod earphones, and blue pens. If Ziggy wants some personal attention,
he plops himself down on the keyboard of my laptop and challenges me
to continue working. Almost all the time, he wins. I am such a wimp! In
situations like that we stare each other down, and then give each other
an affectionate little headbutt. Such is life with Ziggy the cat.

Blessings to you and yours,