Couldn't get a wink of sleep last night because our dog Trixie was barking up a storm outside our window. As a rule, there aren't many things that rile her up or get her attention. Noisy birds that swoop down to steal food from her doggy dish, the neighbor's tank cleaner making clanging noises in their empty tank, the occasional bug or mouse she'd try to smoke out of dark corners -- these are what usually cause her to sound the alarm from time to time. The other night it was a snake--yes, a snake--a foot-long firecracker that tried to look fierce and deadly under the threat of Trixie's bared teeth. In this case, we were very grateful to Trixie for her dogged determination (pardon the you-know-what) to get that thing out in the open, out from under a wooden plank, so that we could deal with it properly.

But last night, Trixie was on a desperate mission. A mission that was costing Rein and I some much needed rest (and probably annoying a few neighbors in the process as well). When we looked out the window, it took us a few minutes to see what was causing the commotion. A sleek, black cat with blazing green eyes had silently padded its way across the top of the wall to finally settle down right at the center, where it knew Trixie could get a good view of it. Trixie kept barking at it, trying to scare it away. She knew her job. Absolutely no intruders--human or otherwise! To my mind, that cat was deliberately taunting our poor pup and driving her to distraction. It knew Trixie wouldn't be able to jump that high up. And in the midst of all this relentless barking and howling, it just sat there, cool as you please, purring contentedly and basking in her moment of victory over an ancient foe, in behalf of all felines everywhere.

We walked up to the wall to try to shoo it away, to no avail. Finally, when it probably had its fill of gloating, it stood up and padded off to other unsuspecting roofs. After Trixie had calmed down, we went back to bed. The last thought in my mind before drifting off was that cats were not going to be welcome in our house after tonight.