Cupboard, cabinet, closet, cat and ants

Growing up, we used all kinds of words to identify one thing. That thing is basically a case having doors and shelves. We had a pantry in the kitchen. We also had kitchen cupboards as well as kitchen cabinets. Why? Aren't they pretty much the same thing? Who knows! We also had a linen closet. The use of so many words to identify a "case having doors and shelves" has recently intrigued me. Mind you, I do realize that a pantry contains more shelves than a cabinet or cupboard (or so I think it does).

So, my recent fascination led me to look up dictionary definitions. According to Websters:

cup•board
a closet with shelves where dishes, utensils, or food is kept; also : a small closet

cab•i•net
a case or cupboard usually having doors and shelves

clos•et
a cabinet or recess for especially china, household utensils, or clothing

They all seem pretty identical to me. Shelves, doors, utensils, storage.

I asked a friend as well as my sister for their thoughts on this. We all agreed that a closet is bigger and sis even noted that you hang things in closets. I did state that you don't hang linens. She agreed. My friend had the un-scientific impression that cupboards are high and cabinets are low (or was it the other way around?). Could very well be. No real "location" exists in the definitions. So, this mystery may still take some pondering.

I currently have cupboards and cabinets in my kitchen, and something I refer to as a linen closet. My kitchen cupboards and cabinets hold things like dishes, china, utensils, non-perishable food items. My linen closet holds sheets, towels, blankets and cat carriers (yes, not at all linens). Additionally, my linen closet also holds tissues, toothpaste, etc.

When doing laundry, I always do a "cat check" prior to turning on the dryer. I go through the house and make sure I see each cat. A few weeks ago while doing laundry, I found two of the three cats. I searched for the third but couldn't find him. I should say that early on, one of my cats became extremely interested in the "linen closet". He would, and still does, stand beneath it looking up, begging me to open the doors so he can jump in. He also, early on, established the bottom shelf as a new sleeping place, and in an attempt to keep him away from the clean linens, I put his cat bed on the bottom shelf and moved all linens up to the higher shelves. While frantically searching for Petey that night, I found him. He broke my rule. He was only supposed to be on the bottom shelf.



Then, last week, one week ago tonight, I noticed a few ants crawling on one of my built in cutting boards. They were persistent and just didn't seem to go away. I finally decided to open the cupboard, or cabinet, beneath the cutting board. Oh, Lord! I thought I was in the midst of a nightmare. Ants everywhere. Crawling on boxes of tea, crackers and storage bags. All over the shelves and all over jars. I knew if I fainted, they'd surely be crawling all over me!



Trust me, these images don't even really show just how creepy it was. They were EVERYWHERE. It took a few days to completely get rid of them. I have this lovely little can of "Natural Animal Cat Flea Powder". Active ingredients - pyrethrins. Yes, the label does state hazardous if swallowed, etc. Don't breath, don't swallow. Interesting if you're supposed to sprinkle this on cats, I think. I don't sprinkle this on my cats. Just use it when ants invade my living space.

Pyrethrins are natural insecticides produced by certain species of the chrysanthemum plant. I knew about pyrethrins from the very creepy book and then move, "The Naked Lunch". Sprinkle this stuff around infected ant areas, and ants will go away.

In conclusion: Bugs give me the creeps. Beware of what's behind closed doors. Cats will do their own thing. The real difference between cupboard, cabinet, closet is still a mystery to me.