Not to be too catty, but we’ve become quite familiar with the Jellicle  Ball, as described in part by T.S. Eliott:

Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats are rather small;
Jellicle Cats are merry and bright,
And pleasant to hear when they caterwaul.

Jellicle Cats are white and black,
Jellicle Cats are of moderate size;
Jellicle Cats jump like a jumping-jack,
Jellicle Cats have moonlit eyes.

One path to our familiarity involves Charlie, the personification of a Jellicle feline, who showed up at our front door one Halloween night. He waltzed in and made himself at home. He said, without saying it, “I’m here. I’m in charge. Live with it.” But he kept wanting outside, and became an expert at slipping out when we least expected it. We were extremely fearful that he’d meet his Maker, as we live on a busy street.

Our Carlsbad granddaughters love him as much as we, and so several months back we somewhat reluctantly transferred his care to them. He’s able to go in and out, as they live on a quiet cul-de-sac with lots of undeveloped areas around. Charlie has thrived in San Diego County. However, our daughter, Vicki, has experienced some of the same situations we encountered. Here are some of her comments:

“I have had to use museum wax on anything taller than 4 inches so that Charlie can't knock items off their shelves or perches. He makes himself at home at my neighbor Donna’s house anytime it suits him. She leaves her back slider open so her cats can come and go, and Charlie thinks it’s for him.

“One day she was in her backyard doing gardening and glanced at an upstairs window and there was Charlie, hanging out in her bedroom looking down at her. She has caught him in her kitties’ bed and eating their food too, while her cats are home!

“He loves going outside. He has brought us countless lizards, several mice and even a bird but keeps winding up on our roof; I have to pop the screen from an upstairs window to get him in. Charlie also considers himself ‘Guardian of the House.’ A friend came by while we were all away, and was attempting to leave a surprise for the girls. Charlie promptly attacked.

“His internal clock is set to wake up around 4 a.m., so he comes in our bedroom, and meows and bangs our bathroom cabinet doors until we wake up. One of us has to catch him, take him downstairs and put him in the garage until 6:30 when we get up.”

Vicki also related that the same neighbor got a trip to an ER ‘sort of’ because of the black-and-white creature, who formerly called Cave Junction his home. Apparently, Charlie was in the woman’s somewhat disorganized garage. She was dressed for going out, possibly wearing high heels, and wanted to remove the creepingly clever critter from her environs. Unfortunately, while trying to scat the cat, she fell and suffered two punctures on one shin. Ow!

So our buddy, who is growing up Down South, continues his Jellicle ways. Meanwhile, we have acquired another Jellicle, and little Jellirabbit exhibits most of the same behavior as his elder cousin. We call him Jellirabbit because he has a pink nose and long ears.

We have experiences with three other Jellicles. Sally was Vicki’s longtime kitty cat, but she’s now in Meow Paradise. Actually, we were stunned to find, by looking at a photo, that Jellirabbit looks exactly like her. Then there was Trick or Treat, another black-and-white wonder, who showed up at our home in Poway, Calif. one Halloween night. Oct. 31 seems to be a favorite time for Jellicles?

And there was Skippy, who was the I.V. News shop cat for a few years way back when we first got here in the late ‘80s. He was a cool cat, who liked to climb into a box of “popcorn” packing material and sink slowly to the bottom for a nap. He was brought to us by two women after the previous shop cat went away. Unfortunately for Skippy, he used up all nine lives during an encounter with a chip truck across the street from our office.

So some of the feline line has left, but the living link is not leaving. And now, it’s time for my catnap.

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