Renn Widens His Field of Study

Renn has a new interest.

As you may know from reading my stories, Renn has a scientific bent. His most frequent field of study is water. He is fascinated by its fall, shimmer, ripples, even its stillness. He will watch a dripping tap for an hour or more, and stare at a bowl of water for almost as long, tapping it with a paw now and then to get a reaction.

But now, my investigator of natural phenomena has found something new to intrigue him: linoleum.

He has taken to lying on a box and staring at the floor. The box was placed so that the cats, in particular Josie, could enjoy the little cat-quilt that they now have. Renn, however, prefers to use the box as a platform for the study of linoleum. He lies on its top and gazes at the floor. Sometimes, his head moves suddenly, as if watching some some object, invisible to me, dart across his vision.

I think he may be amazed by shapes and colours to an extent greater than my other cats. It may be the dance of light and shadow that draws him to examine water. If that’s the case, then the same may apply to the floor’s surface. In any case, he can occupy a great deal of his time studying what’s beneath him. He may one day discover something life-changing in the gentle ridges and shallow valleys of linoleum. Or he may just enjoy himself. Whatever the result, I sometimes think that only his inability to hold a pencil and take notes prevents him from being one of our foremost scientific thinkers.