Wednesday 20 April 2011

..old coots talking..

..this old coot talks to his cats..as he also talks to everything else..little dragons that cross his path..plants and shrubs that grew unattended in his garden...an apple mango tree fruiting in front of his kitchen..he talks to everything, animate or inanimate...but especially to his cats...and one day as he was jogging in front of his home with Ayam, Mokmok and Mekbu's litter of four, Mek Karong,  Oren, Comot and Pakteh, running haphazardly in between his feet, a little girl who was with her mother visiting my neighbour, tugged her mom's kurung and pointed at me...'Look, ma..that old coot is talking to his cats..' ...and I said, yes...they loved jogging with me...and her mother raised her eyebrows...

..I even talk with my wife..and I think it is a good thing among couples..whether young or old..that they talk to each other..more so in their late years..you cannot do much else, but at least you get comfort through talking....as I have been trying to tell my 5th daughter, Ebok who married that Thai youngster...who, two children later, is trying to get herself out...in marriage you tend to get whom you marry..she married a youngster with a running nose and who was still scruffy around the ears..several years into the marriage she found that he is still the youngster  with a running nose..and still scruffy around his ears...boys do not become men within a few years..it takes them decades to mature...if you are lucky...but children these days do not listen much to their parents...for there is nothing new that a parent can tell...

..I even tried to talk with my ex'es..

..and with my children...which soon enough turned into monologues...you try too hard and they clammed up..you don't try at all and they say you are too distant...

..its better talking to the cats...

18 comments:

Kama At-Tarawis said...

pakmat, you're doing fine there. i too talk to my cats, all the time. lillie will listen to my monologue but awang's attention span is wanting..

Pat said...

No wonder you talk to them, they are adorable! And while I was listening to them talk to you, my two doggies went beserk, thinking there was a cat in the house!!!

As always, it is a delight reading your words, Pak Mat :)

jamilah said...

Pakmat, I talk to my Rio & Bobby all the time...and they listen!! When the children start leaving the nest, the cats are the "penawar duka"!!

hazeleyed lady said...

My mum talks to cats too Pakmat...
as she is all alone during daytime ...
i guess one good thing about cats and pets...they dont 'talk back' at you...no matter how bad it is
Have a nice day ahead

Quiyah said...

pakmat, don't worry, my mom too talks to the stray cats that comes and goes at our house in ipoh.
she talks to the cats like as if they are her children too..
its nice to see sometimes that it looks as if the cats understands her.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Abe Mat,
You're a man after my heart...after many cats' heart! Yeah...Mama talks to us a lot. Sometimes we pretend to listen, sometimes we ignore. purrr...meow!

Red Alfa said...

Salam Pakmat

You reminded me of my landlady's husband years ago when I was studying in UK.

He was a retired normally reticent type Yorkshireman and in walks in the park he didn't talk but always got into heated debates with his dog!

I found out this in spite of his wife saying to me "Don't mind him, love!.." I had listened in on one of his daily walks. And sure enough he was debating issues of the day with his dog who for that ocassion was supposed to be Prime Minister Edward Heath!

Yes, what issues again you talk with your cat(s)?

Granny Hani said...

Cats r good listeners..and unlike the kids,they never talk back!

Tisa Fahmy said...

I hear you...

Ozz said...

Dear Pak Mat,

I will introduce you my new family members.....anyway....I love this...."boys do not become men within a few years..it takes them decades to mature".....thank you Pak Mat. It heals my hearts a bit with those words....oouch!!!! I am BAD....very bad.....

June Malik said...

u are doing ok :)

Fauziah Ismail said...

PakMat
I don't have cats...so I talk to myself instead ... out loud sometimes that people thought I had lost my marbles!

Anonymous said...

I have been talking to myself all the time too. In fact, I enjoy talking to myself more than anything else coz the person whom I'm talking to, which is me, doesn't answer back or pout or show me a sour face if I were to say something that is not so pleasant. Neither would that person whom I'm talking to, which is still yup!..me, disagree or interrupt my conversation or yawn. That other person whom I'm talking to, yes, yes.. me, indeed the bestest friend in my whole world. But once in awhile, I talk to myself through my blog post.. just to irritate the other people who are not me. *LOL*

mekyam said...

hi pakmat, here's a limmie just for you:

there once was a man in bachok
who loves to talk to his cats.
cos they don't answer back
or have the tiresome knack
of turning simple talks into spats!

Unknown said...

..wow..seems like everyone talks to cats or to themselves...and I thought I am the only eccentric out here in laidback Bachok..but somehow, something tells me that those cats understood..

..well..if Lady K talks to her Awang Jules, Pat finds it alrght, Jamilah's cat are her penawar duka, Quiyah's mom does it all the time,
RedAlfa's people in UK talks to dogs, and Hani said cats are good listeners..and my eldest dot heard me..then I must be doing something right..

thankyou for the assurance, June..and hey..even topnotch journo like Lady Fauziah and jetsetter Andrea talk to themself..and Mekyam..the limey is sweet..thanks

Seorang Blogger said...

to add to the list, here is another person who talks to anything that cross her path, even mosquitoes and flies!
;-)

Unknown said...

..mosquitoes, too, debest?..welcome to the club..hehehe

Ciknoni said...

Pakmat, i talk to my cats too. I have 4 of them at home. Each with different perangai. Cicah the 3rd sleeps with me every night and before subuh, without fail, she will wake me up by "massaging" me on the breast...dont know what i'll do without them...anyway, I wish i can write like you...