- Norry
- Mr. Norville
- Norvillan
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Norville and his sister Pauley (RB 11/16/96) were out
in the street near our house one day in the fall of 1990, kittens
playing obliviously while cars steered around them. Quickly they
were scooped up and deposited in our backroom, which serves as the
quarantine quarters for new cats until they have seen our vet and
are given a clean bill of health.
Pairs of kittens are more fun than almost anything, a veritable circus
of ever-changing activity and mischief. They were still youngsters when the
waterbed was set up, and spent several days playing "stalk and pounce the
waves" which spread beneath them as they moved across the surface.
Norville has matured into a very serious, patient and sedate boy. His
favorite person is his human "dad", he loves to leap to his shoulder and be
carried from room to room. While he isn't a "cuddler", he always manages to
be in the same room his dad's in, usually nearby. Unfailingly, each night
he sleeps on the bed at dad's feet.
His patience and good nature were amply demonstrated upon the arrival of
Mietze, when he was three. She treated him like very large and animated
kitten-toy: he tolerated just about all of her abuse with great good humor.
To this day, long after Mietze has given up her sneak attacks, on evenings
when Norville misses the "dad taxi ride" to the bedroom, he still believes
that he must bolt down the hallway and spring onto the bed - clearly stuck
in Mietze Evasion Mode.
Norville is definitely the alpha cat of the clowder, but he seldom
asserts his position. Occasionally, though, he will roust a cat who has
usurped a perch that Norville covets.
His postings to the Usenet newsgroup rec.pets.cats.community reflect his
sobriety. Norville takes care of such chores as getting tickets to various
kitty events, sees to it that the rest of the cats teleport and arrive together,
and answers kitty questions of a technical nature. He uses "standard" English
because, truth to tell, he can be just a little bit stuffy. Like many folks
born and raised in the U.S.' southern states, he's very scrupulous about proper
forms of address. Actually, all of our cats, as Southerners, are much more
polite and likely to write "sir", "ma'am", "Mr.", "Ms.", etc., than either of
their human owners (irredeemable Yankees, both).
Norville died on September 20, 2007.
Rest well, daddy's boy.
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