Cozy House Of Cats

...Continued from yesterday:    
      Chicago is not only a windy city, but a cold, cold city in winter, and in Chicago winter comes early.
       By Friday, the day after my arrival, the snowflakes had begun falling outside.

     But inside Miguel and Claire's house it's always warm and cozy.

     This little white wolf sitting at the top of their staircase is a prop from Miguel’s Halloween costume,

​...the year he and Claire were characters from “Game of Thrones”

  Among the photos on the fireplace mantle,

​ ...is one of Miguel taken when he was five years old at his kindergarten in Guadalajara, Mexico.

     Their house is decorated with maps of all the places they’ve traveled to for medical missions or other work trips, or for adventure.
​         Colombia, where they went to pay homage to their favorite author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and visit the settings of his books. 

​Haiti

     Their shower curtain is a map of the world.

      Claire and Miguel share their cozy digs with their three cats, Sassy, Siri and Tinums (see yesterday's post).
          Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that, having been invited in, the kitties have now appropriated the property, which they share with Miguel and Claire. But then cats have a way of doing that.

        Claire and Miguel's house is as purposely feline-friendly as any kitty could wish, filled with comfy cat spaces,

...a little house,

...elevated structures for climbing on.

...and hammocks in the window,

...the better from which to watch their favorite backyard show,

...birds on a wire.

     One evening during my visit Claire noticed that an apparently stray cat who'd been hanging around their block was outside their house.
        "Should I go get that cat?" she wondered.
        "And do what with it?" I asked.
         "Bring it home. In case it doesn't have a place to live."
         I laughed and Miguel gave her the eye.
         As of the day I left  they were still managing to hold the line at three.