IN THIS ARTICLE: Crime writer Agatha Christie's endearing supersleuth Miss Marple started life in 1930, in Murder at the Vicarage, as "a nasty old cat" with an unpleasant habit of interfering.
And it was hosted by a woman — groundbreaking in those days— but mostly it was just endearing and hilarious, and still is, as I can attest after many joyful hours of viewing this week.
Over time, this might have helped create a more relaxed pet -- without ruining one of the most endearing parts of living with a cat: that when your kitty cuddles, you know it's for real.
Thus it is that when we walk in the valley of twofold solitude we know little of the tender affections that grow out of endearing words and actions and companionship.
Ask a pair of geochemists how something like this works, and they will start talking about isotopic abundances and ionization levels with an enthusiasm that is more endearing than fathomable.