Kitten-sitting

The beasts have arrived and they seem perfectly content to disrupt my life. Their names are Mercury and Pluto and I'm kitten-sitting them for a friend. How does one get talked in to kitten-sitting you ask? Simple I'm a sucker for cute little animals. No really, ask my husband or the divorce lawyer he's threatened to get if I bring home any more cats. 

As is my nature, I figured out how to push that envelope. These cats are perfectly (purr-fectly) safe to bring home because they will leave again soon. I have them until the twelfth of June. That's just long enough to induce a melt-down in all four of my own cats, and to try to get the kittens to accept dogs. They have a dog at their own home who isn't as persistent, (or terrifyingly large) as my dogs. 

In case you're wondering my dog's opinion of all this nonsense. He LOVES baby animals more than I do. All he wants is to love them, and all they want is to live through the encounter. He snuffles them whining and they fling themselves into his face as shrieking, sharp, little floofs. Poor Hector, he's wearing them down.

Are you still thinking about those names? Are you still as enchanted with Mercury, and Pluto as I am? It's my understanding that these cat's names aren't planetary, they are mythological. I love a good myth so I had to see what I was up against here:

Mercury - An ancient Roman deity who ruled over commerce and often served as a messenger between the gods and mortals. Son of Jupiter and Maia. His Greek equivalent was Hermes. So far so good, until I read a little further. Good ole Mercury was known to be cunning, swift, and prone to playing pranks. Also the patron of shepherds, thieves and cheaters.  

How does Mercury the kitten compare? So far he's hasn't done anything for my pocketbook, but he has been the messenger of cuddles for us mere mortals. He's swift, cunning, and prone to running off with my pens. So... the name seems to fit him.

Pluto - Also an ancient Roman deity and the ruler of the underworld, who was also the god of wealth as he was lord of all the metals that lay underground. Son of Saturn and Ops. His Greek equivalent is Hades. He wasn't as frightening as Hades, he was a fair judge of the departed souls. 

The kitten Pluto has also done nothing to bestow wealth upon me, but I have seen him send a couple of flies and one spider to their end. He's wildly tough, willing to take on my monstrous, 118 pound dog. All-in-all I think the names work. 

What I didn't know when I agreed to watch them, is that I would get a pair of beta eaters (er readers) and editors of my work. These cats are vintage enthusiasts. How's that? They seem to prefer the analog to the digital. 

Not once have these cats given in to the technological siren song of my computer on the table. My phone might as well not exist to them. But the moment the typewriter comes out to do some work they (Pluto especially) come running from wherever they are in the house to be a part of what I'm doing. They are there to help, no task is too large for them. It doesn't matter if it's trying to grab the typeslugs before they can hit the paper, or blocking the end of the carriage so it doesn't move, they are there to help. 

I guess it's a good thing that they will go back home to a house where an aspiring writer has her own typewriter. We wouldn't want them to miss it.