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A grandma in glasses and a floral apron moves a checker outdoors while an orange cat dozes with its chin on the table. 7 / 35

Abuela Rosa Set Up the Checkerboard. Her Opponent Had a Different Strategy.

AI imageorange tabbycheckersbackyard

Out in the backyard, a wooden table holds a well-loved checkerboard, red and black pieces still lined up near the edges. Abuela Rosa, hair twisted into a loose bun and glasses low on her nose, reaches for her next move with complete concentration. Her opponent, if you can call him that, is Mango. The big orange tabby has draped himself along the table's edge with his chin resting on the wood and his eyes squeezed shut, front paws dangling. A red geranium, a few garden tools, and a coiled green hose fill the yard behind them.

Cats spend a large part of the day asleep, and adult cats commonly snooze for twelve hours or more, often in short naps spread around the clock. They are crepuscular by nature, which means they tend to be most active around dawn and dusk. That explains why a cat can seem completely uninterested in a lazy afternoon game and then race through the house at sunset. A cat that dozes near its person is also showing trust, because sleeping is when an animal feels most vulnerable. If a cat suddenly sleeps far more or less than usual, it is worth mentioning to your vet.

So Abuela Rosa plays both sides of the board, and Mango contributes the occasional soft snore. Nobody is keeping score very seriously, and on an easy afternoon like this, everyone at the table is winning.

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