Tennessee kitties

I have 5 cats. Yeah, I know....shuddup! Anyway, one of these cats I've had since I lived in Miami in '98, one I got as a kitten just before I moved here in '05. He's grown up here. The other 3 were born here & I got sucked into ownership....I said shuddup!
There's been some thunderstorms around here a few times lately & I'm used to dogs that freak out when it thunders. But I've never had cats go crazy in them before. Cats are supposed to be calm & nonchalant during these things unless they are getting directly rained on.....then it's acceptable to give a look of pure distain, amble into a sheltered spot & lick the few drops that managed to get up the nerve to land on them.
My Florida girl paid the thunder no mind this morning...continued to snore thru it. The Florida boy was sleeping on the stair rail & just gripped it a bit tighter...but his eyes did get a little wider & his ears were twitching.
So it's 4:45 in the frickin morning & I hear a loud clap of thunder, the sound of papers flying in the kitchen, the rattle of the metal burner covers on the stove, kittie nails scritching across surfaces & somebody's fur covered self goes flying across my hip & legs while I'm struggling into conciousness on the couch. My 3 born & bred Tennessee critters are having hysterics all over the place. One is dashing around the kitchen....he's the one I rescued from the diesel pumps at work & was probably born outside to one of the strays, you'd figure he had some street sense & you'd be wrong. The other 2 lived outside since birth until they were about 6 months old & their Momma had disappeared so I brought them in, and they were used to all kinds of weather.....but they seem to have gotten soft....really soft. Those 2 were hollering in the bathroom & one had been sleeping on my legs until that first clap hit....then he hit....my ass....on the way to the bathroom where his brother was already cowering in the garden tub.
Everybody's ears were twitching & twirling as the thunder continued. Every flash of lightening caused a mass bolt to secure an even better spot. BB (diesel kitty) decide the safest spot was out of the kitchen up under the covers with me & preferably up my ass......I said no, but it was a toss-up about who was going to win that particular battle for a few minutes. Topaz & Tiger (the experienced outdoor brothers) decided all the towels on the rack in the bathroom would be adequate protection, so they pulled them down & stood on them while they howled. Smokie (Florida girl) looked around, twitched her ears & went back to snoring by the front door. Sarge (Florida Boy)stretched on the stair rail, then decided to join the fun by teasing the 3 weather weenies......this consists of running back & forth between the front & back doors & apparently yowling that breakfast is ready so the others will all head for the kitchen......but I wasn't off the couch yet & it was about 2 hours until breakfast for them.....so now they're all voicing their unhappiness & each has individual ways to force me to get up. They've practiced these tecniques to perfection.....one slurps at the water fountain until it gets below the spot where I have to fill it or risk burning out the motor, another starts scratching on the burner covers to make me think she's just burying whatever she's just deposited there.....that's so I have to get up to clean up or catch her in the act hoping to re-train that bit of behavior. Another is downstairs playing with the ball-in-a-circle toy....a more annoying sound is yet to be developed...yet another is simply standing in the middle of the dining room table & yowling, and the final little hellion is engaged in making mincemeat out of the loveseat cover....a move that always makes me get up to fling something in his direction.
By now the thunder is down to a distant rumble every 10 minutes or so & even the two stray cats that will NEVER be coming in the house....SHUDDUP....but wait outside patiently every morning for their little handout, are standing where I can see them thru the window behind the parrot's cage.....and they are not being patient either.....one of them is spraying the damn window!
I held out for almost an hour.....but breakfast was early today. OH SHUDDUP!