open the door and let'em in....

Whenever I open the front door, whether I'm coming into the house or just leaving, I often find that my way is obstructed by our cat barging past me.  We have a cat flap, but it seems that she finds the whole process of using it somehow beneath her dignity and would rather wait for someone to save her the trouble.  By the same token, if the cat is outside and I'm inside, I will often hear her pitiful cries as she sits in front of the cat flap begging me to spare her the indignity by opening the door.  She'll often cry to be let in/out of the back door too.  Anything, it seems, but face the cat flap.

This morning, as I got ready to leave for work, the cat lined herself up to escape the house as soon as I opened the door.  She knows that when I put on my shoes, I'm about to leave, and she makes all due haste to get into the best possible position to nip in front of me as I swing open the door, often swerving her body back slightly to allow the door to actually open past her. 

Today, she nipped out in front of me and stopped dead in her tracks as she got into our little storm porch and realised that it was pouring with rain.  She arched her back and then started tip-toeing backwards into the house around my legs.  Once inside, she turned on her heel and shot upstairs to spend the rest of the day curled up tightly on my duvet.  I can't say I blamed her, really: isn't that exactly what you or any other sensible person would have done if they had the choice?  Fool that I am, I smiled at her back as she disappeared up the stairs and then made my way to the office.

After the day I've had, I wish I'd followed her lead and turned on my heel to spend the rest of the day in bed.  More proof, if it were needed, that cats just know stuff.  Never mind the rain, the shower of drizzling nincompoops at work that are wearing me down.

Work is proper bobbins.