After the wild birthday party, Royce gets his scritches; we notice that he is quickly aging

Baby Wry celebrated his first birthday yesterday, but for the most part, the Kracker Cats ignored it and went and did other things - like nap. They celebrated by taking good naps. Royce, however, put himself right in the middle of things, as he always does. Here, he observes as Wry and his good buddy, Lafe, wallow in the birthday cake.

Royce was mighty interested when Lafe's mother decided that he had consumed his quota of sugar for the day, and so came to pull him away from the cat. If anyone should be interested, the party itself is featured on the Wasilla blog, right here. Scroll down to the previous entry and you can even find baby Wry on the day that he was born. 

But why is Wry called Kalib on that blog? 

I am puzzled that this other blog is done by someone named Bill Hess whose children and cats all look exactly the same as mine and even undergo identical experiences, but have different names. The only thing that I can figure out is that they must live in a parallel universe to mine, and somehow these parallel universes overlap right here, in cyberspace.

What you won't find on the Wasilla blog is any of the four photos that follow. These were all taken after the shenanigans of the party had played out. All are exclusive to this blog.

After the unrelated guests had all departed, I noticed Tyskuit and Royce sitting together at the end of the couch, lit only by the glow of the Christmas tree lights. Later, when I showed this picture to Sunflower, a tear came to her eye.

"Royce is growing so old!" she lamented. "It makes me so sad."

The scritch begins. Royce was Tryskuit's birthday present what, 14 years ago? 15? I can't remember for certain. I have asked everyone else and no one is certain. As longtime readers of this blog know, Tryskuit now has two other cats that live with her in her apartment in Anchorage.

But when she comes home, Royce is still her cat. Rather, she is still Royce's girl.

The scritch progresses. So why must a cat grow old so fast?

The scritch moves forward. And why must a little girl that once materialized on your lap every time you sat down move on as you yourself grow older and older and older until you realize that the only thing that can stop you from soon turning into an old, old, OLD, man is death itself.

And you don't want to die. And neither do these cats.

The scritch reaches completion. Once again, I have been diverted from the history that I was telling. No matter what, each time that I get into this history, something will soon divert me, be it these contemporary Kracker Cats or cats that I meet along the way.

But I had better get back to it soon, so that I can share with you the story of how Royce became a Kracker Cat, so you can see how cute he was as a kitten, and what an adventurous and interesting life he has led.

Royce C. Boy!

That's what I call him.

The cat who is always searching for love.

And here he has found it.