The Ballard Bunch at the Catlanta Catlympics

SYNCHRONIZED SLEEPING

Ceilidh and Skye were obvious entrants in the Synchronized Sleeping competition:

Boris, KCOG: This event started Thursday and without more reports, Bobbie, Dylan, an' Tyler will take the salmon by default.

Ceilidh & Skye: We're here! We're here! We can hear the commentators now!

Commentators: Yes, efurrykitty, the next entrants inna Synchronized Sleeping event are Ceilidh Flurrydance and Skye Silversong.  They have been so involved in training for this event that we understand they almost missed their bus and have barely made it to the arena in time.  But here they come now, walking in together, shoulder to shoulder, their tails waving in unison. (We understand from their housemate, the smurgler Talisker Pippin, that this was how she first saw them when she moved into their house--as she emerged from the introductory room where she'd stayed her first two days there, she was confronted by Ceilidh and Skye standing shoulder to shoulder facing her. I guess they exchanged hisses, and there's no love lost between them to this day--Talisker has shown her own amazing personal strength by being able to establish a prominent place for herself in the face of this indivisible duo.)

Celidh and Skye now begin the preliminaries to the actual sleeping skill in this event by jumping gracefully to the catperch at the living room window, seating themselves with Ceilidh sitting up and Skye crouching down so that from the outside of that window a viewer sees Ceilidh's head on top and immediately below it Skye's head.  The two heads turn in unison, first to the left and then to the right, looking for burdz or skwirrels and keeping track of efurything that goes on inna nayburhood.

Then they jump down from the perch and take their places inna middle of the arena. They sit next to each other, and prick up their ears and turn their heads in unison, as if listening for greeblings. Now they alternate washing ears and heads, while their mewsical accompaniment is playing:

(To the tune of "Anything You Can Do")

Anything we can do, we'll do together.
Together is better, whatever we do;
Anything's better that we do together.
Together there's nothing that we cannot do.
We can climb
(We can climb)
We can pounce
(We can pounce)
We can sleep,
We can sleep,
We can sllleeeeeeeeeeep!

And as the strains of "We can sleeeeeeeeeep" stretch out, Celidh and Skye circle round each other and lie down in the exquisite yin-yang position, making a perfect entwined circle of hot-fudge-brown Siameze and charcoal-and-white tuxedo furs. They hold the position, then--eyes still closed--stretch out at full length, belly to belly, nose to nose, front legs at full extenshun, tails curled gracefully behind them.  Their mewsic has moduated into a much quieter, more soothing mode, and they shift once again into a heart-shaped position, still tummy to tummy but with paws curled up in front and heads and tails touching.  The mewsic swells:

Amazing grace,
How sweet the sound:
A drowzy kitten's purr.
A sleeping cat
Spreads peace all round
Soft as a kitten's fur.

Now there's a key change, and the mewsic picks up tempo once more, reprising their opening theme:

Everything's better when friends stick together.
And we'll stick together whatever we do.
We will yawn
(we will yawn)
We will stretch
(we will stretch)
We will dream,
We will dream,
We will dreeeeeeammmmmmm.

Ceilidh and Skye strettttchh out full length while still lying down, rise to their feet, bodies parallel to each other and stretttcccchh again--now they yawn in unison, sit next to each other, each washing the other's ears, and now--yes, now they curl up again in the yin-yang position, and . . .they GO BACK TO SLEEP!

This has been an elegant, classic presentation. Of course there are some judges who will take off points because these two artists (and this is art, folks!) are not perfectly matched physically--Ceilidh's solid round dark brown Siamese conformation is smaller and more firmly packed than Skye's more rangy smoke-and-white lankiness. And of course their coloration is not matched at all. However, these more superficial points of comparison are easily set aside when you begin to observe and understand the deep emotional, some would say spiritual synchronicity between these two cats. Some say they wouldn't even have to train for this event--they live it every day of their lives. That is so apparent in the wonderful performance we have just seen--Ceilidh and Skye are stunning representatives of the best kind of friendship and unity. We've been privileged to watch them demonstrate that today.

Now, we're ready for the next contestants.

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