Origami boxes,

little boxes made of paper, little boxes on the table, little boxes all the same....with apologies to Malvina Reynolds (and Pete Seeger).

I doubt the Senior Cat knows the song (our family was more likely to be listening to Gilbert and Sullivan or Mozart). It is one of the few I was familiar with during my teenage years but it comes back to haunt me at times.

The Senior Cat and the Activities Officer (AO) have been making little boxes. This is part of the long, slow lead up to Christmas with Covid19. They cannot have the normal Christmas party and activities so the AO  has been trying to think of other things, including a tiny present for everyone - even those who won't remember anything about it.

The Senior Cat has fiddled around with origami for a long time. He is not particularly good at it but the idea fascinates him. He was the one who introduced MsW to a couple of simple designs years ago.  It is now one of her hobbies. She can make what seem to be incredibly complex designs - often surprisingly useful things too. 

The Senior Cat  has not attempted such things but he tried a new box.  I found him and the AO working on it when I went in to see him.  They had his i-pad propped up between them and were talking about "mountain folds" and "valley folds" and  other such mysteries as they tried to follow a little video. 

    "Join us," the AO suggested. Did she know I had left last time with instructions to work it out? I am not in the least skilled at origami. My paws are much too clumsy for the sort of precise folding and tucking required. 

Despite that I do find it fascinating to watch how a piece of origami comes together. You can have what looks like a complete mess. Then one piece will go into another and, with a little gentle pulling or pushing perhaps, you suddenly have the box, the bird, the animal, or the object you have been working on.

There is something to be learned from all this. I must keep trying to do it.