DARK VISITOR

The Mistress of Sarcasm arrived yesterday afternoon at Chez Elisson. Along for the ride was Neighbor, her cat.

Neighbor tolerated the four-plus hour drive reasonably well. Both Hakuna and Matata are basket cases whenever I transport them even the shortest distances, so the very concept of a cat that travels well is completely alien to me.

In a couple of weeks, when Dad - Eli, his ownself - and Toni make the trek from New York to Florida with their cat Sammy in tow, we’ll see just how rara an avis Neighbor is.

Meanwhile, we’ve got Neighbor confined to the sunroom for the time being. We want to give Hakuna and Matata - especially Matata, Queen of All She Surveys - a chance to get used to the idea that there's another kitty in the house before we turn Neighbor loose on ’em.

I wonder just how well they’ll get along. Matata came down earlier today and peered at Neighbor through the French doors. There was a lot of subvocal growling going on and some Puffy Tail Action as well. Heh.

Neighbor has a Genuine Fucked-Up Voicebox, which means she is the one cat who can make more noise purring than Matata. 'Ta sounds like a little motor almost 24/7, but when Neighbor gets the purr-box going, she sounds like an 18-wheeler carrying a load of live pigs locking up its brakes on a 45-degree downslope in a hailstorm.

Stay tuned. Things should start getting interesting by this afternoon.