Here, Kitty, Kitty...KITTY?

One family member who is settling in nicely into the new home is Blackjack the cat. In fact, I think home ownership (well, shamelessly mooching off the actual homeowners) has triggered a nesting instinct in him. And though I know it's not technically possible due to the fact that he's been neutered, I think somehow, in some way, he is out there making copies of himself.

I say this because every time I let him outside, I'll see at least one other identical black cat somewhere — off in the pasture behind the house, over across the street staring at me. In case you think I'm being overly paranoid about this, I have to add that this also happened back at the apartments we used to live in. One night I opened the glass door to let Blackjack in, and there were two of him out there. I'm pretty sure we brought the right one with us....

One way that this cloning process may be happening? OK, way back in the day, there was this comic strip called Calvin & Hobbes. (Pause for nostalgic music and fond memories.) Calvin was this precocious kid who was always getting himself in some kind of trouble due to resisting his parents' authority, smarting off to the teacher, Miss Wormwood, or getting into boyish mischief involving mud, snow, or bugs. He also had a stuffed tiger named Hobbes, who would only come to life and have conversations with Calvin when no one else was around.

Calvin lived in an almost-constant fantasy world, and one thing he decided to do for several strips was make copies of himself so the original Calvin could go out and have fun while his duplicates managed the unpleasant parts of his life, like homework and going to bed at a reasonable hour. The duplication process began when he got into this cardboard box (I think it was called "The Calvinator") and pushing a button drawn on the side. His duplicate would then hop out of the box and cheerfully go about Calvin's menial tasks while the original was off planning snowball or water-balloon attacks on his female archrival, Susie.

I think, somehow, Blackjack has figured out how to do this, because everywhere we go we are awash in duplicate kitties. I hope they don't get too close or act too cute, though, because I have a soft heart. And now, with the whole homeowner thing, a yard.

That reminds me, I still want to get a dog....