Making Family

Three kittens, one doodle dog, one tween, and a mama live in this house.  Our family extends beyond the walls of our home. There are family members by birth, by marriage, by choice, by circumstance. And then, widening the circle, family by geography, by species, by the fact of being alive at the same time on the same planet or in the same universe.

And then, beyond that, the familial love of something even more than that, an energetic connection to ancestors, descendants, the swirl of non-linear existence.

But this morning, it’s all about a stick with a ribbon on the end of it, and how three tiny kittens and a giant (20lb) doodle can team up to attack this dancing toy in my command.

They seem to be taking turns pouncing — kittens, then doodle, kittens, then doodle. When they forget themselves in the joy frenzy and pounce at the same time, a startle, and a backing off. They are learning what’s okay and not okay for each other, making guttural sounds and physical signs that say, “Back off - this ribbon is mine!”

And then, it’s not theirs, it’s the other ones’.

It seems like they could go for hours like this, getting used to each other, making family. The kittens are fascinated by their big dog sister, her agile furry ways, her swaying tail, her floppy ears. And Brownie is clearly using all her mental faculties trying to figure out how to play with these strange but no longer scary housemates.

One thing: Brownie is better at ball than they are. They are better at climbing than she is. They are better at sneaking into tiny spaces. She is better at catching treats in the air.

And I’m pretty awesome at handling this stick ribbon thingy. I’m gonna keep going.

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