The Mysterious Moving Water Bowl

It moved.

Again.

I distinctly remember filling this bowl with water and placing it at the base of the sink up against the back wall. Now, its sitting two tiles to the right. Still along the back wall, but near the toilet rather than the sink.

That's odd.

A couple of hours later, I walk by the door and the bowl is now sitting directly in front of the toilet. Away from the wall.

It moved.

Later, I notice just a little bit of spilled water but a movement of the bowl just a little closer to the middle of the floor. That evening the bowl sits directly in the center of the doorway to the bathroom.

Strangely, it is always the water bowl moving, and not the food bowl. The food sits in the same spot I put it, half-filled with cat food.

But the water bowl is dynamic. It moves and moves and moves.

What is up with this?

Its got to be Socrates, our cat. It has to be.

Socrates being watch by a lurking Sonora

So the next morning I watch him eat and drink and nothing happens. But later that morning the bowl again has moved. Sometimes its away from the wall, and sometimes its towards it. Thinking that perhaps the back wall and tile is making the water warm as it is along the garage wall, I decide to refill the bowl with cool water and put it in the other corner by the sink furthest from the warm water.

The bowl moved yet again. And again.

This has now been going on for a month.


About a week ago I finally figured out exactly what is happening, although the why is unexplained.

Socrates has been pawing and pushing the bowl while he drinks. He'll take a lap or two of water, look down curiously, then paw the side of the bowl, moving it a couple inches across the floor. After a couple of pushes, he drinks a bit more water, then pushes again.

Its odd. I have no idea why. How did this recent behavior suddenly become the pattern?

What is Socrates trying to accomplish?

Is there something in the bowl he thinks he can get, or that its covering up?

Does it taste strange?

Is he bored and playing a game?

Honestly, I find it hilarious even though its sometimes in inconvenient places for human usage of the toilet. You know, placement of feet and everything.

I wonder why he does it. He has to have a reason...maybe he's deciding he needs to do a little bit of exercise since he sleeps so much. Its funny or curious to an outsider who doesn't know the why behind the action, but yet it must make sense to Socrates. Or perhaps is something subconscious and simply a habit formed for some reason.

Here's the kicker...I bet I have habits that are just like this when viewed by outsiders.

You do too, don't you?

I mean, why do I always put my left sock on before my right sock, followed by my left shoe then my right shoe?

Why do I add cream to my coffee after pouring the coffee into the cup? Amanda does the opposite, putting the cream in first then adding coffee.

Why do I prefer and place toilet paper rolling over the top, while others have it roll underneath?

Why do I always try to read right before bed, if even only for five minutes until my eyes are closing and I can't remember the words on the page? (My answer for this one, I think, is that reading a story helps my mind to relax, de-stress, and prepare for the dream-state.)

Do we do this when we people watch? Picking up the idiosyncrasies and habits of others and sometimes laughing, sometimes dubious, but always interested. Would they make more sense if we knew why they did them? Or are we all just obsessive-compulsive in some manner.

Of course I realize that we can psychologically break this down. But that is no fun. Its too serious. Can't we take ourselves a bit lightly and laugh at ourselves?

I think these little habits and ways of doing things are perfect for enlivening our lives. They aren't serious, and getting caught doing something funny usually becomes a joke. Like when someone calls you out on always using a particular word in conversation. Several years ago I had this happen with the word "essentially," after which I caught myself so many times and tried my best to use different words in place of it! It was quite funny for those who were there and had brought that up to my attention.

So can we laugh at ourselves?

Having fun on my brother-in-law's wedding day.

Do we realize that sometimes we have patterns or habits that are funny and odd?

May we take ourselves lightly, realizing sometimes we have a reason for our behavior, sometimes a compulsion or superstition, and other times the habit has no reason or rhyme.

I mean, after all, toilet paper rolls could be fighting words, or they could be hugely hilarious moments that when brought up can bring people together.

Lets laugh at ourselves a bit these days.

Or laugh at Socrates, he can take it.

It makes life better.