The young’un cat, having won the battle of the fish tank, and proceeding swimmingly with his project to transform himself into an amphibian, has of late been seized by a new evolutionary ambition: 
a determination to stand on his own hind legs.
This began because there is Something in the ivy. With the young’un cat’s usual outdoor playmates, the deer and the turkeys, off yonder somewhere attending to family matters, he’s had to find something else to absorb his attention. And that Something is in the ivy.
I’m not really sure there actually is Something in the ivy. But he is. Every morning he’s down there, below the deck, peering intently into the mysteries of the thick pale-green-pants-colored coils of ivy winding down the slope.
In order to better focus in on the Something in the ivy, he began standing on his own hind legs, his front paws dangling like those of a kangaroo. Then, occasionally, he will leap into the ivy, in an attempt to apprehend the Something.
He hasn’t come out with anything yet.
Now, after a couple weeks of successfully standing each morn on his own hind legs, he’s begun shuffling forward a few paces on them. I think he’s teaching himself how to walk. Like you and me and Darth Cheney.
I would Tell people about this, but I am afraid that some morning They would come, and put him in a Science Lab. Or a Herzog film.
Cute cat; cute story, but please know and keep in mind that “ivy” is POISONOUS to cats.
He doesn’t eat it. He just watches it. And leaps into it.
P.S. The photo is not of the young’un cat: that’s a random, perhaps disturbed, animal I encountered on the tubes.
Let’s hope he doesn’t try to learn to clog dance…
He doesn’t seem much interested in music at this stage in his life. I’m sure that will come, though, and when it does, clog dancing could become a problem.
Winky has been trying to teach herself to walk for a while now. She does this thing we call a “human stretch”, where she balances on her hind legs and then stretches her front legs as far as she can into the air, then holds herself up as long as she can. When I read this post I told her she better get to work, as young’un cat was mastering walking before her. He really is impressive.
It sounds like the Wink may also be trying to increase her height. Maybe she figures that if she’s as tall as you people, she can more run things.
She very well may. Her new thing is jumping on the toilet seat while I’m brushing my teeth so she can pretend she’s nearly as tall as me. I don’t think I’ve ever told you that sometimes I call her “The Wink” (though mostly I just call her “Wink”), so maybe you just came up with it yourself. Which is wonderful, because I’m sure I only call her “The Wink” because I picked up such things from you.
There is a tendency around this joint to “the” people’s names. As in The Plute, The Bites, The Rod, etc. You yourself at one time were The Bill. So it is likely that you contracted this affliction from me. ; )
I am thankful for the affliction.
It doesn’t really work with “The Grrr” though.
I don’t know; I kind of like “The Grrr.” Sounds sort of caveman-ish. ; )
That it does.