The first thing my golden tabby cat Alvin did when he moved in with me in early January was to knock all the silver balls off the Christmas tree. (Yes, it was January, but I always leave the tree up until after the Epiphany.)

I figured at the time he only knocked the silver ones off because he could see a cat reflected on it and wanted to play. And play he did, whacking those silver balls all over the house! It took a great deal of extra effort to gather them up to put away, but his happy antics with them was a joy to watch .

And then it was Easter.

I happen to have 16 plastic, refillable Easter eggs that I have placed in a large, woven basket and used as a holiday centerpiece every year for decades. This year I had company on Easter, and decided to fill the eggs with little treats and have an indoor egg hunt Sunday morning.

My friend enjoyed gathering the eggs, and placed them all on the coffee table in the rec room to retrieve the goodies from inside. Up until then, Alvin had been pretending to nap. Now he languidly stretched and came over to the coffee table.

I trained Alvin from the get-go that he could sit in the windowsills, but he was not allowed on any kind of table or counter top. Nevertheless, he boldly walked to the coffee table, placed one front paw on the edge of it, and began to deliberately roll a shiny golden egg toward him.

“He’s telling us exactly which one he wants,” said my friend.

So I set the gold egg on the floor, and he happily batted it around the room until it came apart. Then he alternately batted both pieces, playing hockey with them all over the house. When he tired of the game, he picked them up by the rim in his mouth and carried them off to a safe place for later playtime.

This has been going on for weeks now, and I’m thrilled he’s so easily entertained.

“All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.”