New arrival in Mackenzie household

I know, this month I have gone off topic much more often than I should, with the posts about my award and my new book. But I have one more off-topic post that I have to make, which in fact I have been sitting on for three weeks.

My wife and I have adopted a new kitty! His name is Max, and he was our Christmas present to ourselves. Here he is helping me to write a blog post.

As many of you know, we used to have three calico cats, two of whom were sometimes heard on my ChessLecture videos. After they passed away, we started taking foster care of kittens for the local animal shelter, usually for three or four weeks at a time until they were old enough to go up for adoption. Over two years, we fostered 33 kitties, but we never were seriously tempted to adopt one for ourselves.

Until Max! He had everything we want in a kitty. He is very sociable, and follows us around like a dog. He is gentle and careful with his claws, and I think that he is made out of wax, because when you pick him up he just kind of melts and molds himself into your arms. He loves laps, too, and as Kay says, “He has a good purr motor.”

I’ll have to get some good pictures of Max playing chess, but for now, you’ll have to settle for a video of him in another unexpected place.

If you can’t see the video above or you want to see it on YouTube, here is the link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7LJEyQ3Xmc.

I know that non-pet-owners will roll their eyes, but to me, Max is such a blessing. Our home finally feels complete again! I was particularly glad that we kept alive our 22-year streak of never celebrating Christmas at home alone without pets.

The best thing about being a Christmas kitty is playing with the ribbons!

P.S. Kay has a longer account of how we decided to adopt Max on her quilting blog, which you can find by following this link.