What Is It About Redheads?

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Ollie Baba

I was at my Vet’s the other day when a woman walked in with a red Labrador Retriever.  Not pale strawberry blonde.  Red as in vibrant, Irish Setter red.  This color Lab is quite rare and I’d never seen one.

“She’s gorgeous!” I said.  “What’s her name?”

“Sasha,” her person said.  “And she has quite an attitude.  Feisty.”

It figures.  My Vet once told me, in reference to my red and white cat Ollie, that calico cats, orange tabbies and any cats with red fur are considered the temperamental divas of the cat world.  Why am I not surprised?

I found Ollie in a rundown feed store, barely six weeks old, covered with fleas and ears full of mites.  Once cleaned up and given a lot of food and love, Ollie became an outstanding cat with a frightening intelligence.  He could open doors.  Locked doors.  He liked to shower with me.  He was so stubborn my Aunt Aline said his name should be officially changed to “Ollie Goddammit” as in “Ollie, Goddammit, leave those houseplants alone!”

He’d watch and imitate.  I’d leave my studio to get a cup of coffee and come back to find him pounding away on the keyboard like Keyboard Cat.  The screen would be filled with letters and numbers, none making sense.  Once he even deleted an entire chapter.  I think he just liked the feel of the keys under his paws.  He also had a great fondness for the remote and accidentally bought a few pay per view movies before I stopped him.  (He has this thing for playing with keys.)

Redheads.  We’ve all read the Harlequin Presents with the red-haired heroine and the hero who makes remarks about her temper.  How about Maureen O’Hara, Hollywood’s red-haired spitfire, glorious in all her movies from The Quiet Man to The Parent Trap?  Would Lucille Ball have been as feisty without her red hair?  Would Ariel, the little mermaid, have been as daring?  And who didn’t adore the entire Weasley family of Harry Potter fame?

A friend of mine recently got a new kitten, an orange tabby, fluffy and cute.

“Isn’t she just the sweetest little thing?” she said.

I looked into those inscrutable kitten eyes, then glanced at my friend and thought, Oh, you have no idea what you’re in for.  But you’ll enjoy the ride.

What is it about redheads?  What do you think?