Stokely and the Noisy Night

On Wednesday I spent my first full day on campus, soon to be a biweekly occurrence. When I came home, Stokely was beside himself with joy to see me, and was his usual I'm-happy-to-see-you, snuggly self. I, on the other hand, was exhausted and didn't take long to to get ready and crawl into bed.

Not long after the lights went out, it started. The paper bag he likes to hide in rustled. The scratching post that arrived in box from home the day earlier was knocked over, it's rattle ball jingling on the way down. The light thump of a cat jumping onto a forbidden counter top came from the kitchen. Sharp little teeth nibbled on my fingertips. Padded paws ran across my back.

The poor kitten had been home alone all day, napping and dozing and eating and napping some more. He wanted to play! I wanted to sleep. Despite my fatigue, it took about an hour for me to fall into a sleep deep enough to ignore my neglected cat.

Thursday morning, since I didn't have class, I made sure to spend some quality play time with Stokely. I can tell Mondays and Wednesdays are going to be rough for him though! :(

Stokely and the New Litter Box

In my house on the Cape, there was a little closet in the living room that perfectly fit Stokely’s litter box. In Denver, I knew I was moving into a tiny studio apartment. Given Stokely’s messy litter-scattering habits, I had to go for something with steeper sides to have any hope of keeping our new home clean.

What I bought was an obnoxiously large dog-house style litter box. Stokely knew right away that what it was intended for and he used it without hesitation. He then decided to multi-task while he was in there and laid down for a nap. Yes – he snuggled into the litter, put his head on his paws, and closed his eyes. I couldn’t believe it! Part of me was flabbergasted, part of me thought it was adorable, and part of me really didn’t want my cat to constantly be coated with his own poo.

Fortunately, after a few uses it became less appealing for him to doze in, and he has since found plenty more fitting spaces to sleep.

Stokely and the Step Stool

I bought a step stool for the kitchen because my shelves are too high to reach flat-footed on the floor.

I was doubly grateful for the step stool when I discovered that it could be used to block the lower cabinet that Stokely had figured out how to open.

I am happier still because I get to watch Stokely nap under it, hide under it, and attack me from under it. He has always liked small spaces, and with four openings for him to stick his appendages from, what’s not to love?

Isn't he a cutie pie?

Stokely and the Ceiling Fan

The day I moved in, the first thing I did was turn on the ceiling fan so that the apartment could get as cool as possible as fast as possible. The cord clicked when I pulled it, and the blades whirred as they made their rapid revolutions. Stokely heard nothing of this.

After being in the room for perhaps twenty or thirty minutes Stokely must have turned on his back or otherwise looked upwards, because he bolted into the kitchen as if he were escaping the talons of some monstrous creature. From around the slight corner, he sat and simply stared at the ceiling fan – while I doubled over in laughter. Sometimes I think we give cats too much credit for their keen senses…

Stokely and the Toilet Paper

This summer on the Cape, my roommate Paige and I quickly developed a list of reasons to keep the door to the bathroom door closed at all times. Left to his own devices, Stokely could frequently be found drenched from jumping into a yet-to-have-drained bathtub or from falling haphazardly into the toilet. Paige once even caught him peeing in the sink.

The last straw, however, was when I caught him running around with what I thought was a dirty tissue from the bathroom garbage. It turned out to be (clean) toilet paper, which I realized once I noticed that the entire roll had been unwound and dragged out of the bathroom, out of the house, and onto the porch. Not having an unlimited budget to spend on toilet paper at the whim of a kitten, we had a new house rule: keep the bathroom door CLOSED!

I had to spend my first night in Denver in a hotel, since I couldn’t move into the apartment until September 1st. It was a nice room, but it had a weird bathroom door that slid into the wall, so I didn’t think to close it right away. Sure enough, Stokely soon gave me reason to, as evidenced by this photo:

I can only imagine what the hotel’s housekeeping staff thought when they saw half of the toilet paper unrolled on the floor.

What's in a Name?

When my cat comes up in conversation, I am always asked to explain how I came up with his name. First, I always ask "Have you ever seen CSI Las Vegas?", and then, regardless of the person's answer, say that Nick Stokes is my favorite character.

But wait, there's more. The lead singer of one of my favorite bands, State Radio, is Chad Stokes. I have seen the band in concert three times and have met Chad twice. He is one of the coolest people you can ever hope to meet.

But that's not all. I saw a movie once with a girl named Stokely, and sometimes they called her Stokes. I really liked it at the time I saw the movie, so it always stuck with me.

So there you have it. My cat's name is Stokely, aka Stokes.

The Origin of Stokely

Once upon a time, I went to the beach with my good friend Emily the weekend before finals. After a good nap in the sand, we stopped at a farm stand for something to nibble on during the long drive back to Providence. Thinking only of the refreshing taste of grapes, and not the fact that they'd end up costing us $7, we headed for the checkout. A woman standing nearby called out "Free kitten with every purchase!" and held an adorable 8-week-old gray tiger cat in her arms. To make a long story short, it was love at first sight.

Flash forward through all of the summer, and my cat Stokely and I have moved to Denver, CO. This blog will chronicle his hilarious moments, his stupid moments, his tender moments, and the moments that really piss me off. I hope you enjoy.