It's cold here in New Hampshire

Misty and Benji huddled under the sofa in the living room. It was bad enough that the outside was still breaking, but the indoors wasn’t much better. It was still dark all the time, and the only warm room in the house was the kitchen, and it had been invaded by a dog. Right before the storm, the Growly Man had brought home a German Shepherd. It was big and liked to sleep near the stove, right where their food bowls used to be kept. The Lovely Lady moved them a bit, or made sure that dog wasn’t around when they were fed.

Krishna sauntered into the living room saying, “Where are you, kittens? I know you’re in here.”

Misty answered from under the sofa. “We’re under here. The dog can’t get at us if we’re under here, and it’s too cold to go outside. I’m starting to think that maybe we should have found a different home. It’s cold and dark and now we’ve been invaded by a dog that doesn’t even speak English.”

“Well, you’re right about the dog. I’ve never met a dog that I couldn’t communicate with before. I thought that all dogs spoke the same language as us cats, but this one sure doesn’t. I heard the Lovely Lady talking to the Growly Man, and he said that the dog speaks germ. That makes no sense to me. I know what germs are. They’re little tiny things we can’t see that make people or animals sick. Why would a dog want to talk to germs?”

Misty and Benji didn’t have a clue about that, but they had heard the Growly Man say that the dog had come from a breeder and that she was tired, or something like that. “Maybe the germs are what made her tired, and so she learned to speak germ to get them to leave her alone? You seem to get along okay with her, Krishna. How do you do it?”

“Oh, I just gave her a swat or two on the nose when she growled at me. A growl is a growl, no matter what language you speak. Actually, I think she may be nice, for a dog, but it’s hard to tell, since we don’t share a language. I’ve started to try to teach her some English, but it’s slow going.” In fact, Krishna had been doing a lot of talking to the dog, pointing out things and telling her the word for them. She’d push something off the table and then say the word for it. It had taken a couple of tries for the dog to figure out what she was doing, but now she seemed to be picking up the words fairly quickly. If only she was a cat, Krishna would get out a book and they could sit together and look at pictures together and learn that way. The dog seemed nice, but Krishna wasn’t ready to snuggle down on the floor with a new dog.

“Krishna, why is so dark in here all the time now? It wasn’t like this before.” Benji poked his head out from under the sofa. It was safe to come out, since Krishna was there to protect them.

“Well, the electricity still isn’t working. That’s what makes the lights work. The ice storm knocked down the power lines, and they haven’t been repaired yet. I heard the Growly Man talking on the phone to someone and he said that there were hundreds of people trying to fix all the power lines around here. It’s been a week and they still haven’t been able to fix them all. Lovely Lady was worried last night that the pipes from the well might freeze, and then there wouldn’t be any running water until someone came and thawed out the pipes with a blowtorch, or even until spring. The Growly Man has been bringing water from the outflow from the pond every day to use for the toilets. It’s a lot of work. He even has to go and get wood to keep the stove going so they don’t freeze themselves. People don’t have good fur like we do to keep them warm in the winter. They need clothes and heat, or they freeze. I’m not sure what that means, but it has something to do with being very cold, and I know it’s not good.”

Misty peeked out from the couch. “Wow, I’m glad I’m a cat. My fur keeps me pretty warm, even if we’re out in the shed. I can fluff it out, tuck my paws in and put my nose down, and if I’m not toasty warm, I’m at least not too cold. The Growly Man has been wearing his big heavy sweater every day, and sometimes he’s even wrapped up in a blanket. Do you think we should be helping to keep them warm? When we snuggle together we stay warmer. Maybe if we sat on them, they’d be warmer.”

Krishna nodded. “I bet it would help. I know that they can make me warmer if I sit right next to them, so I bet we make them warmer too.”

Benji didn’t look too happy with this plan. “I don’t know, Misty. I’m still pretty shy with Growly Man and even with Lovely Lady. I’m not sure I’m ready to sit on their laps, or snuggle up with them.”

Misty looked at Benji steadily. “Lovely Lady has been taking care of us since the summer. She feeds us, and makes sure we have enough water and watches out for us. I think it’s time we stopped being selfish and did something for them. We can’t haul buckets of water, or bring in firewood. The only thing we can do is to help keep them warm. I know I’m going to try to do it. I’m still a bit skittish myself, but for Lovely Lady I’m going to try it. Tonight, when she gets home. Or, maybe tomorrow. But I’m going to do it.”

Benji looked quite crestfallen. He wasn’t really a selfish kitten, but this was going to be hard. He’d try, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it. Krishna saw his indecision and came over and started to groom him. “Benji, you’ll do it when you’re ready. You can’t force a flower to bloom until it’s ready. You’ll do it when you can. In the meantime, let’s keep each other warm.” The three snuggled together on the loveseat, cradled in the blankets. Yes, it was dark and not awfully warm, but at least they had each other.


Photo Courtesy of Amy Mo- http://flickr.com/photos/amymo/1895711/

Is the world coming to an end?

Misty and Benji were huddled in the shed. Outside each time a breeze came up the icicles hit against each other with a musical sound. Unfortunately, if a stronger wind blew they broke and hit the ground with an explosion of ice shards. It was Sunday, and since Thursday the world had been encased in ice. It was bitterly cold and the two half-grown kittens snuggled as close as they could to try and keep warm.

"I think the world is ending, Benji." Misty was terrified, pupils so wide that her irises couldn't be seen. "First the trees all died. The grass died too, but that took longer. Then the water in the pond was turned into that cold horrible stuff that we can't drink, and the sky started shedding. Krishna said it was just like rain, but rain doesn't lie there on the ground! Now the whole world is covered in shiny stuff and it's breaking!"

"Maybe you're right, Misty. It's just gotten worse and worse for so long now. It was beautiful when I came here to live with the Lovely Lady. It was warm all the time, and the sun licked my fur every day. Even when it was dark it was beautiful. The stars twinkled happily at me. Now they are sharp and mock me. The sun, when it's even out doesn't warm me. I don't like it here anymore, except when we're inside." Benji was plainly miserable.

A gust of wind came up, breaking a branch off a tree outside of the shed. It fell to the ground and shattered against the coating of ice that covered the grass. Both cats jumped and ran to the kitchen door, scratching frantically.

The door opened, and the Lovely Lady let them in. They ran by her at full speed, both with their fur standing straight out. "Did that scare you Benji, Misty? This weather is terrible, isn't it? We haven't had an ice storm like this in ten years. I don't know when they're going to get our power back on, but I hope it's soon. You two should stay inside as much as you can. It's cold and dangerous out there." The Lovely Lady walked to the refrigerator and grabbed the food container off the top. It wasn't quite supper time, but the kittens looked like they needed a treat. For that matter, so did she.

They had been without power for three days now, and even with the wood stove going, it was pretty cold in the house. Then again, she thought, old houses aren't known for their insulation, so she shouldn't be surprised that the house wasn't holding the heat. She headed back upstairs to get under the down comforter and read for a while. If she was lucky, she'd fall asleep for a while.

Benji and Misty polished off their snack and headed to the living room to snuggle in the blankets there. They found Krishna already cocooned in one and joined him. It was cold enough that none of the cats wanted to fight for dominance. Warmth was much more important right now.

"Krishna, we think the world is ending. The trees died, the grass died, the pond got hard, the sky started shedding, and now the world is breaking. Tell us the truth - is this the end of the world?" Misty turned despairing eyes on Krishna, hoping he'd tell her it wasn't so, but sure that he wouldn't.

Krishna sat up and struck a pose. He cleared his throat and declaimed:

“Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

“That's a poem by Robert Frost, and I've been thinking a lot about it over the last couple of days. I never knew what it meant by ice being destructive, but now I do. No, kittens, the world isn’t coming to an end.”

Benji looked at him totally confused. “But you just said that that ice could destroy the world!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t say it was doing it right now, and it’s just a poem anyway. Poems are pretty words that talk about how things might be. Nope, the world isn’t ending. It’s just winter.” Krishna looked smug. He’d lived through several winters and felt quite superior to these kittens who’d never seen winter before.

“The trees didn’t die. They do this every year. The leaves fall off, but they grow back every year. I have no clue why they do that, but it’s true. Same with the grass. It turns brown, but in spring it gets green again. No mysteries there, just winter.”

Both kittens just sat thinking for a few minutes. Misty spoke up, “But why is the pond hard and cold? And what’s with the world breaking? If I go out there I could get hurt!”

“The hard stuff on the pond is ice. It happens to water when it gets really cold. Even a bowl of water will do it if it’s left outside. It can be kind of fun, if you’re brave. When it’s been cold for long enough, you can go sliding on the pond. You run down the bank and jump and when you land you can slide almost all the way across the pond. It’s way fun, but it has to be really cold for a long time, so that it’s frozen to the edges, and you have to stay away from the part where the beavers dam the outflow. That doesn’t freeze. We can do that together in a few weeks.” Krishna personally loved winter. He loved jumping in snow over his head, fighting his way out and then batting the snow around. It flew all over the place. When he got too cold, he went and snuggled with Sheep, if he couldn’t get in the house. Sheep was warm. He had been looking forward to sharing his winter fun with the kittens, but they looked so scared he wasn’t sure they’d ever leave the house. “The sky doesn’t shed, either. That’s snow, and it’s even more fun that ice. I’ll show you when we get enough of it. You’ll like it, trust me.”

As he was talking, the Lovely Lady came into the living room. “You three have the right idea. Keep each other warm for a little longer and the power will come back on and the heat will come back.” The kittens looked at her with a worried look. The loved Lovely Lady, but still weren’t completely trusting where humans were involved. “It’s just winter, kitties, along with a bad storm. The ice will melt and it will be safe outside. Summer will even come again, but not for a long time. I forget that you guys have never seen it like this. New Hampshire is cold in the winter. Your mothers probably told you about this, but it’s hard to believe until you see it. We’ll all be okay.”

Misty meowed at the Lovely Lady. She did love her, and felt she needed to trust her. If both she and Krishna said that this would all end, then it wasn’t the end of the world. With that settled, now she could sleep, so she did.


Misty


Benji


Krishna


Sheep

A Holiday Cats Can Get Into - The Eating of Large Birds

Peep and Rudy sat on the deck looking out at the yard. A vulture sat perched in a tree on the edge of the neighbor's property. They weren't sure what he was looking at, but knew it wasn't them.

"Vultures are the ugliest birds the Great Cat ever made, don't you think, Peep?" Rudy had her lip curled up in disgust. "I bet they don't taste any better than they look, too. They eat road kill, for goodness sake. Who knows how long the things they've killed have been dead, or even why they died. They could have been diseased. I'd never want to eat vulture."

Personally Peep thought that Rudy had as much chance of catching a vulture as she did winning the lottery. Rudy might be a good hunter - she certainly claimed to be, but that vulture outweighed both of the cats put together. It could probably pick one of them up and fly off with no problem.

Peep sighed. She loved eating birds, but they were so hard to catch. She'd never consider going after the vulture herself, but she'd like it if a nice grouse were to slowly walk through the yard. Then Peep could have a good fowl dinner. "Even if the vulture isn't good to eat, wouldn't you just love to have a nice large bird for your supper, Rudy?"

LT sauntered up to the bottom of the stairs and looked up at Peep and Rudy. "Well, if you don't mind them cooked, you'll have your wish soon." He sat down and began grooming himself, studiously ignoring the others.

"Is Mommy making a chicken for dinner tonight? Oh, I love it when she makes chicken!" Peep jumped up, but sat down quickly when LT shook his head.

"Nope. She's not even home yet, Peep. But...next week is Thanksgiving, or as we of the feline purrsuation call it, "The Eating of Large Birds". LT smiled to himself. Oh, how he loved the crisp turkey skin, or a nice cooked turkey heart.

Rudy looked confused. Last November she was still living at the barn, so she didn't know much about Thanksgiving. She'd seen some talk shows about it recently, but the cooking ladies seemed to talk about pies and vegetables. Being an obligate carnivore, she automatically tuned out those discussions. "Where, pray tell, do we get these large birds? Is this part of the fall migration or do they get deposited in our food dishes?" Rudy hated to be teased, and she had a suspicion that LT was making fun of her.

Peep saw that Rudy wasn't understanding the conversation, and undertook to explain the holiday of Thanksgiving. "Rudy, Thanksgiving is a holiday. People get together and eat cooked turkey and other foods and then either they all watch football games or they yell at each other. I've seen it on television lots of times, and sometimes Mommy and Daddy make a turkey here and people come over and eat it with them. They don't do the yelling or the football watching here, though. Just the turkey eating."

As explanations went, this one left a lot to be desired, even from a cat's point of view. LT interrupted, "Rudy - who cares why they do it. They cook birds bigger than that vulture over there! And unlike that scrawny buzzard, these turkeys have so much meat on their chests that they can barely stay upright when they're alive. And their legs - ah, their legs are so big and round that you couldn't put your mouth around one and carry it away. The Eating of Large Birds is the best holiday of all for cats. People always talk about Christmas being the best, but for cats, it's definitely Thanksgiving.

Rudy looked at Peep and LT, eyes wide. "A whole holiday just devoted to eating birds? Maybe people aren't as silly as I had thought. It makes more sense to me to celebrate good food than things like soldiers or ships sailing somewhere or working. I like this idea. Count me in."

LT sauntered past and went into the house, licking his chops in anticipation. Peep sat on the deck drowsing in the sun. Both of them dreamed of Thanksgivings past when they'd had their fill of turkey. Oh, if only Thanksgiving were tomorrow....

Photo courtesy of Josh Bousel - http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshbousel/220658320/