i just learned about “wish lists.”  this is the compilation of all the things one wants but  can’t afford, can’t find, or that one has been told by someone in authority that one can’t have.  take me, for example.  you want to know what i want?  mice.  and i don’t mean those cleaver little fake mice that are stuffed with catnip.  those are toys. i like toys just fine, but toys i’ve got; mice i ain’t got. i’d also like a couple of squirrels and chipmunk.  all of these should be alive and healthy when i unwrap them.  unfortunately, my gal has already told me that i won’t be getting any of these for Christmas.

here’s what else is on my list.  i want the door to open when i stare at it.  has anyone invented a device that will do that?  if you know where i or “santa”/ my gal can get one, please let us know.

the last thing i want is more important than all the others, and i hesitate to ask for it because i know that getting it is so damn unlikely.  evenso, i’d like to have peace.  by that i don’t mean the peace that happens when all the housecats are sleeping.  i mean the kind of peace that only humans can make by believing in their mutual humanity.  now i’ll admit that when i’m chasing the feline femmes around the house, i occasionally think of them as less than cats, but that’s probably because they act like rabbits, running for their lives.  and even with that prey behavior, i KNOW they are cats.

the problem with people is that they forget that they are all made from the same stuff.  they’re not special because of their coloring or their gender or where they live or what language they speak or how or who they worship.  if you put a bunch of cats in one room, you might have calico and tabby, black and tuxedo, white, brown, orange, persian, siamese and hairless.  but inside the skin, we are all the same.  we’re all just cats.  people are people are people, and it would be so wonderful, even miraculous! if they would treat each other with the same respect that they desire.  i read that somewhere and it makes sense.

so that’s my list.  mice, squirrels and peace.  actually, it’s PEACE, PEACE AND MORE PEACE, and then some mice and squirrels.   purr, y’all.