Cat tales.

Understand, cats themselves do not buy into the whole nine lives thing. That's obviously a human invention, and some cats might say not original. Cats are so universally more savvy than their human folks, it's nearly awkward.

Cats have to dumb down to get our attention. My doggie does something very similar, but the over-eager wagging tail gives it away too soon. Cats read the room a whole lot better. They understand right away who the can openers are, the only-strokers, and especially those ignoring humans who can intrigue some curious cats to sheer distraction. Understand, in the cat world, we're always their toy of the moment, lucky gratitude expected.

One of the very best things about cats is how these heavenly critters really don't always need us, and have their own independence of wild spirit. In a world that often needs us too much, cats remind us we're just not all that.