Carmella

Carmella is not a cat, but she likes laps just as much as the rest of them. This guinea piggy Honorary Kitty lived in a school and played with all the kids there. When she retired, she moved in with my sister Julie and shifted to playing with her and her Kitties.

Carmella never backs down from a challenge: As soon as she moved in, she gravitated toward Stephen. She considers him an interesting project and tests him with lengthy staring contests. Carmella always wins these battles because (1) Stephen has a short attention span, and (2) one of Carmella's eyes is always open, due to an infection she caught during a cold. (It may have magical powers.) She never purposely tricks Stephen with her trick eye but says he has to learn someday that he won't win every fight. Sometimes, she turns to the other side and blinks to make him feel better. Regardless, she always rewards him with positive reinforcement, letting him share a spot on her favorite blanket.

Carmella is a born teacher, caretaker, and overall wise piggy Kitty. She always reads and learns new skills. This week, she took up knitting because there's only so much to do in her cage condo. She just finished reading Michelle Obama's Becoming and wants to grow an organic garden like she did but full of her own favorite lettuces, carrots, and strawberries. Everyone comes to Carmella for advice, and she's usually right. When she's not, she spins it into a valuable teachable moment.

When Carmella wants to relax, she spreads out on a lap or under her favorite fleece blanket on the couch, with a snack, ready for a movie or a podcast. She loves Pixar cartoons, PBS, and a daily dose of Jeopardy. She listens to a lot of NPR and shares all sorts of stories from the day.

Carmella prefers to listen to instrumental music; while she appreciates great songwriters, she says the overused bass in pop songs and club music gives her headaches. Instead, she likes the unpredictability of jazz and intricacies of classical. Her favorites are George Winston, Vivaldi, and Bach. Some of her idols include Toni Morrison, Jane Goodall, Richard Feynman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Cate Blanchett.

Surprisingly, Carmella dreams of the beach life. Someday, she says, I'll be spending my days and nights in a hammock between two mango trees, next to my organic garden, by a private beach in the Caribbean. She pictures enjoying the sun, sound of the waves, and a good book during the day and studying the constellations at night. (Did I mention she's writing the definitive textbook on stargazing? She's become an expert, on account of the eye that never closes.)

She says we can all join her there whenever we want, but I'm pretty sure she's only knitting one guinea-pig-sized hammock right now. The rest of us are on our own.