She is both mother hen and Mother Superior. She is always loving, but she is a harsh taskmaster who wants things done on her schedule and brooks no dissent or excuses. But she reads us well, knows when we require affection, when we need her present or absent. We do not know quite how she does it and she is not about to say, even when asked. She just smiles that knowing grin and goes about her business, leaving us to ours. We know we can never fully understand her. We know she fully understands us. After all, she is a cat.