After almost two months of isolation, with both of us working at home (you in your small study, and I in mine), Watson (black tomcat) is now the factory timekeeper. He gets us up in the morning, informs us when it's time to stop reading the paper and get to work, and then at five o'clock starts yelling to announce the cocktail hour. If I'm still at my desk at six, he starts relentlessly nagging, standing on the desktop in front of the monitor and scrambling over my shoulders.

His vocabulary is limited, but he never fails to get my attention.

Sister Isobel (also black, rather smaller and much quieter) stands by and gracefully accepts the benefit of timely meal delivery.

Most of the migratory birds have returned from their winter quarters, so the cats spend much of their time chittering at the mourning doves that hang about on the back fence. The rabbits grazing on the lawn don't excite them nearly as much; I guess the cats consider the rabbits a bit out of their weight class.