FS, this made me remember something: When I was a kid, I used to "let the cats cover me."
When our evening chores were finished and everyone else had gone up to the house, I was usually the last one to leave. The light switches were all on the ceiling between the mangers, and I'd walk between the 2 rows of cow heads as they ate, turning off the lights. Sometimes, when that was done and it was dark and quiet except for cow noises, I'd lay down on the ground between the mangers. Slowly the barn cats would come, one by one, and lay on me b/c I was a warm surface. I can almost feel again their feather-light footsteps (these were barn cats, maybe 5 lbs for a big tom and the rest smaller) and the warm spots they made on my body when they laid down, and hear the purring start up one cat by one cat...
The peace and comfort I got from this were so precious, in a place where there was very little of either to be had.
I hadn't thought about "letting the cats cover me" in a long time--thanks for reminding me of this.