Salt ...

... lovely stuff. It brings out the flavour in your foods. You mustn't use too much for various reasons. You CANNOT eat hot chips without it, simply cannot, no matter what Mr Brown says.
Cats, lovely things. Warm and furry, cuddly things. They are great company, not too clingy or slavish and entertaining in so many ways. They can be terribly, terribly expensive with their health problems but you took them on, you are responsible. When they die your heart will break.
Humidity, sapping, debilitating, mood dampening, summer-ruining stuff. On the other hand, it is also magically hay-fever reducing and creates the most amazing head of jaunty curls.
Salt and cats and humidity??? What's the connection?
The Venerable Small, recently departed, had asthma. Small required Ventolin when she had a bad attack. Don't laugh, it's easy with one of those mask things you use for asthmatic babies, no biggy.
But still, I worried for her dodgy lungs. I consulted the interwebs and I found some stuff about salt lamps being good for folks with asthma. Loads of stuff actually. And then I found pink salt lamps. My natural acquisitiveness, love of beautiful things and desire to be "doing something good for Smally" all combined into one, rather expensive purchase.Sydney, for those who don't know, is fucking humid. NO, it's not as humid as Brisbane or Singapore, but it's humid.
Salt extracts moisture from air. This is why you should keep your salt in sealed containers, else it becomes a damp mess.
Large blocks of solid pink salt draw quite a bit of moisture from the air. Pools of it. Water that runs over tabletops and down the side of cabinets onto the floor. Pools of water that end up on the floor, near the hall doorway, perfectly placed to be stepped in first thing in the morning, when you least expect it.
So, you put a plate under the salt lamp and the water pools and evaporates (and yes, you add a second, bigger plate because you are a slovenly housewife who does not empty the collected water often enough). It creates wonderful crystals blooms, like those salt pans at the back of beyond. More blooms form on the side of the salt block, rough and crumbly.It's a thing of beauty, so we keep it. We never turn it on for fear of electrocution. Also because salt is highly corrosive and has eaten away the doohickey bits in the middle that made the light work.Still, it's fun when little kids come to visit and you tell them they can lick the lamp if they want. They always do. Some adults do too.