You Ask How Much I Love My Cat
Right now there's a lamp nestled in the corner of a stair halfway down our staircase. It's there for the cat...and maybe to save our lives. In her dotage, Old Cat wants to nap on the stairs, possibly to keep track of where I am (usually upstairs) and where my husband is (usually downstairs) at a given time. She chose the darkest spot, where the upstairs light doesn't reach. (The downstairs light isn't left on because it's a chandelier and therefore terribly inefficient--though workable for avoiding cat traps. There are two possibilities for terror: First, one of us might trip over her and hurtle to our death. Second, one of us might kick her and injure her old, brittle bones. She doesn't seem to care, though I have explained the perils to her very patiently, several times. Hence the lamp. It lights that central area just enough that we can see her there, and she actually seems to enjoy its little glow. She doesn't have to sleep on the stairway.