😺It Couldn't Hold Me, by Suzy Q😻

 

            “There came a day, recently, Toots, when a power greater than myself seized my mortal frame and carried me through a terrifying portal to a Lower Dimension!” said Suzy, upon her return to the Upper World.
            “I heard that she was trying to give you a break from dealing with the Bros.,” said Toots.
            “Motivation is mysterious. My natural Caution required that I remain vigilant, no matter what I heard from this power’s own lips!” said Suzy.
            “Caution is always best. I can’t argue with that, pronouncements notwithstanding!” agreed Toots, fervently. “What was it like in the Lower Dimension?”
            “At first it seemed OK. Hesitantly, I sat beside her on her bed and allowed her to treat me as a common cat. She provided food and water, it seemed right. It was my normal dinner,” mused Suzy. “Then night came on. It was dark, eerie, and the walls seemed to close in on me!”
            “Ew! Red flag time! Book it out of there, I would,” said Toots.
            “I did! I went Undercover,” said Suzy with huge green eyes shining where she sat under the desk communing with her sister in Caution, Toots.
            “I spent two nights there. She searched and called. She even vacuumed, to try to flush me out, but I held my ground. She never found me. As you know, I am very small. I can hide in places that don’t seem like places to such a huge person!”
            “What about the next day?” said Toots.
            “I remained elusive. Immune to her pleadings and promises!”
            “Good girl!” approved Toots. “I’m right there with you!”
            “I wish you had been here with me, yanno, physically!”
            “What was down there in the Lower Dimension?”
            “There were wild colored lights! I could hear footsteps overhead in the Upper World! It was so close, but impossible for me to enter, since I was hiding and all!” said Suzy. “I endured a second night. Long, chilly, and hungry.”
            “You said there was food,” said Toots.
            “Yeah, but I would have to come out into the open to eat it!”
            “Suzy. You’re in the Upper World now. How?”
            “I found a sort of ladder thing! I had to take my chances with it while the power slept! I climbed it to the top and waited by the back of the entry portal, all the while being sniffed by Sweetie through a crack!
            “Pretty soon the portal opened and I was back under the desk! Safe at last!” announced Suzy.
            “Ameow!” said Toots. “Welcome home!”
            “Thanks, Honey!” said Suzy.

Happy Catfurday!

MEOW!

🧡

A Lasting First Impression

 

 
          Milly came back from the coffee/lunch room on her floor of the Milltown paper office with a big old paper cup of drip with heavy cream. She set it carefully on her desk, then walked over to the window. It was closed because it was cold out there. There hadn’t been snow in town yet, but it sure looked possible to her. Maeve would have to knock if she showed up.
            She turned back to her desk, plopped into her chair, and opened her computer to see if anything interesting had come in.
            Some wags referred to her column as the Cryptid Desk, but there was more to it, local news, legends, lore, and sure, sightings and questions. Specifically questions for Ralph or about Ralph. He had become kind of a local, virtual, hero in the eyes of a few within the paper’s reach.
            She flipped through a short list of rather generic questions and suggestions before one question stopped her scrolling.

             Dear Ms. Price:
            We humans find the hairiness of these possibly mythical forest inhabitants to be rather      shocking and exotic. It’s one of their most outstanding characteristics.
            What I was wondering is how do they, since you talk to one, view our relative hairlessness? Is it shocking to them?
            Nessie Dunbar

            “Hm. Never thought of that,” Milly said to the empty room.
            There was a loud knocking at the window just then. Maeve was sitting on the ledge, so Milly got up and opened the window just enough for a large Raven to slip in.
            “Hurry! It’s cold out there,” she said. “Thanks for coming by. As it happens, I would like to have a word with Ralph, maybe in the morning, if it doesn’t snow a whole bunch overnight, Maeve.”
            Maeve took her usual spot on the desk, craning her neck to get a look at Milly’s screen.
            “Oh, you Hairless are so cold all the time!” Maeve laughed. “I’ll see him later this morning. He’s got a new kid he’s trying to civilize out there. I gotta see how it’s going. If I don’t come back today, you can figure on the go ahead. See ya, Milly.”
            Then she exited by the same way she had gotten inside.
            Next morning, Milly drove her Escalade up SR 20, into a light snow fall. It wasn’t sticking to the road, so she kept going. She parked at the usual spot and waited. Silence fell around her at she sat there. If he took much longer, she would have to turn the engine and the heat back on.
            Her eyes were closed when she heard a knock on the passenger side window. There he was. It was always a bit of a shock seeing him suddenly. Then she would see his smile and everything was fine.
            “Hey, Milly, going my way?” Ralph said after he opened the door and stuck his head in.
            “Get in, it’s winter out there,” she said by way of greeting. “I hear you have a wild kid hanging around?”
            Ralph eased into the passenger seat, doing a little bit of that shrinkie thing he does.
            “The boy’s alright. He just needs to learn to communicate. He is definitely not from around here. Ramona caught him rummaging around her cooking in hidden form,” said Ralph.
            “Oh! He didn’t know Ramona, did he? Bad idea,” said Milly, laughing a little.
            “Nope. She grabbed him by the ear. By the way, Maeve said you are doing research on one of your fan’s questions.”
            “Fans huh? Be that as it may, I do have a reader asking a sort of interesting question. It doesn’t sound like much, but I got to wondering. How do Forest People view the fact that we city dwellers and such are relatively hairless? Does that seem bizarre, or like a strange handicap to you?” she said.
            “Oh! That’s funny! It reminds me of my first sighting of an undressed human person, two of them actually!” laughed Ralph. His laughter shook the SUV a little.
            “Shall I drive for a while?”
            “Yeah, and I’ll tell you what happened.”
            “I’ll head north,” said Milly.
            “I was still a kid, living with my parents way up in the mountains. A big kid, not much smarter than this Mürg back at the Clearing. I liked to wander a bit. One day I followed a river back downhill until I got to a sweet little valley. It was summer by the way.
            “Well, in this valley the river became wide and slow and shallow. It was a perfect location for swimming on a summer day.
            “Now, I had seen humans, Hairless, here and there and goodness knows, maybe I thought their clothing was like a bird’s feathers or something. Like a part of their bodies. What did I know? We were covered with hair, maybe they were covered in cloth?
            “Anyhow, there were a couple of young humans in the river, doing like all young do in a nice swimming place, just fooling around. After a while they walked out. One girl. One boy. And Milly they didn’t have a stitch on! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! They looked so small, so fragile, so naked, so hilarious! Like just hatched birds or something. It was too much for me!
            “I laughed until I thought I would faint. They saw me, and took off running for their car. I have no idea if they got dressed before driving away, I didn’t stick around to see. So, yeah. I guess, it was a heck of a surprise, and sort of pathetic. I do wonder what they made of me laughing like that?”
            “You probably became part of their personal mythology,” said Milly. “I didn’t think about it being funny. I see! Anybody else say anything to you about us in that regard,” asked Milly.
            “Oh, not in my hearing. Ramona knew better. In fact, a few years ago she decided she wanted a dress, and Thaga had to talk her out of it. She does have a big apron, but it just hangs in the cave,” he said.
            “So, we’re funny, huh! No wonder we have to wear clothing!” said Milly. “I better turn this thing around and take you back to camp.”
            “Thanks for reminding me. Funny stuff, what a kid thinks, or assumes, Milly.”
            She pulled across the oncoming lane and parked at the wide spot. “I’ll write something. Bet it surprises Nessie!”
            “It might! I wonder what she expected?” said Ralph as he climbed out. “Say hi to Colin.”
            “Give my love to Ramona and Cherry! Have fun with the wild boy, Ralph,” Milly said.
            He waved and disappeared among the trees.
            Milly got back in her lane, and drove back to Milltown, where it was finally snowing just a little wet sloppy snow.

       

❄️💚❄️

🐈‍⬛Why Do We Have Tails? A Sympurrsium™

 

Now, there's a handsome tail!

 

           “Alright, you two, down in the front!” said Suzy, from under the desk. The Scouts had been invited to join the grown cats for a Sympurrsium™ on the important subject of tails. “Cool it!”

            “I have a tail because I was born with it on my butt!” chortled Sweetie, to Booker’s giggling approval.

            Toots took the podium, so to speak, saying, “The question on the table is why, not how!”

            “Why?” said Sweetie.

            “Huh?” said Booker.

            “Well, to begin,” said Mr. Baby, who hadn’t been joining in much lately, “To be a little obvious, a tail is a tool of balance. It’s part of how we maneuver so well in space.”

            “Point taken,” said Toots. (general purring approval ensues)

            “A tail! Ah, a tail is a means of expression,” said Buddy. “With my large, luxuriant tail I signal my pleasure, or distress. I mean I do yell sometimes too, but my tail speaks volumes silently!”

            “Hey! When I’m scared my tail fluffs right up,” said Sweetie.

            “No problem knowing when you’re scared, Sweetie, you holler like a little kitten, but louder,” said Suzy.

            “My tail follows me around like an antenna,” said Booker. “It’s amazing. I keep it up so I’m visible!”

            “Sometimes I wrap my tail around my feet, to keep my little toes warm,” said Suzy. “I’m sure we all do that!”

            “Most of those points are practical matters,” said Toots. “We need to think a little more about why we have tails. I will admit that it’s an odd question, seeing as we are cats and cats manifestly have tails, as do lesser creatures, such as dogs and monkeys.”

            “It may be that Sweetie swerved into an important issue,” said Charley. “We are born with tails. Why oh why, were we created that way?”

            “The way I see it, we are born to embody beauty. A tail is a necessity for beauty,” said Toots, “regardless of those unfortunate lesser creatures and their poor tails. Just think of all of those hairless, tailless human people! How sad it is that they must struggle through life without this badge of honor and grace! It’s just sad.”

            “No wonder they have to wear clothes!” laughed Booker. “No fur! No tail!”

            “Ew!” said Sweetie.

 

            A slight electric charge ran through the atmosphere, almost like a ripple in their sense of the present. Everyone noticed it immediately…

            “I found you!” said Minerva. “You two never told me your names, but I sort of followed you here anyhow. What a strange world this is! I’ve never seen such things! It’s so busy! So fast! So much of everything, and wonders such as I never dreamed of!”

            “Well! Welcome, Minerva! I am Toots. The other one you met is Suzy. There are several of us here discussing our tails. The question on the table is why do we have tails!”

            “I see,” she said, thinking. “I have never questioned why I have a tail. I use my tail to gather my children to me sometimes. That’s just practical.

            “But I think that there are only two possibilities. Either there is no answer, or we have tails because God made us with tails. I don’t see any way around that.”

            “That’s positively existential!” said Buddy in admiration. “I’d like to talk to you again!”

            “Why, thank you, Sir! I must return to my children, but perhaps sometime we can talk again,” said Minerva. Then her presence was gone.

            There was a moment of silence, everyone thought their own thoughts for a while.

            At last, Toots said, “Maybe it was a foolish question, born of our confusing times. Maybe looking back to when Minerva lives would be wiser. To merely thank the great Power that made us the way we are, rather than seeking His reasons? What do you all think?”

            “I think we must all admit the wisdom of Minerva’s words,” said Mr. Baby.

            “Indeed!” said Suzy.

            “Agreed,” said Charley thoughtfully.

            “I just can’t argue with it,” said Buddy.

            “Huh?” said Sweetie.

            “Let us Purr™,” said Toots, “and be grateful!”

            So, they did, and they were, and also were proud to be the bearers of their wonderful tails!

 

MEOW!

❤️

           

It's Just a Phase

 

            OK, so, Mürg was just a kid when he happened upon the Great Forest. But he knew a few tricks, which came in very handy sometimes.
            He had wandered down from Alaska, because he didn’t like the scene up there. Violence wasn’t his trip. Mürg was a trickster. Incurable, up to that point. He had cut a merry swath through Canada. But it wasn’t much fun because the Hairless there were so stuffy, and they didn’t seem to know a good joke when they saw one. So, he headed on southward, coming at last to the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest.
            It was still winter so there weren’t many people in the forest, pretty, but pretty boring too.
            Then he discovered Ralph’s domain. Things were looking up he thought. Not in so many words though, because Mürg didn’t speak a word of English, or, in fact, even Saslingua. The boy was as au naturel as they come.
            He came walking down the near side of the Silver River. When he got close to the Home Clearing, he began to smell something interesting. It was like food, but ineffably better. He made a hard left right into the forest on the usual path everyone took to the river.
            Things were definitely looking upward. He could see a nice motherly person, a little child, and a white wolf. But they couldn’t see him!
            There was a fire burning in a circle of river stones. On the fire was a metal contraption, and on the metal, were a couple of dozen fish lying there cooking. Now, apparently, the appetite for cooked food in innate in hominids, because though he had never eaten a cooked anything, that fish smelled very edible to Mürg, nature boy that he was. But his familiarity with fire was non-existent. Additionally, he was very hungry.
            Naturally, Ramona knows about phasing in and out of the common visual range, but a girl needs a little clue that it’s that which is happening. She got none, and she was busy too.
            Mürg slipped on over to the fire and picked up a very hot frying fish. It doesn’t take long to look at a hot fish, so, he dropped it on the ground and stood their shaking his burnt fingers. Hm, he felt thwarted.
            He was still hungry. So, he looked around. Ramona didn’t notice her basket of mushrooms vanishing. Then he spied her little jar of butter. That didn’t seem to be hot either. Using his burnt fingers for utensils, he scooped out the butter and finished it off. Then he dropped the jar on the ground.
            Ramona turned and looked at the fish on her big flat pan and noticed that one of them had escaped, and it was on the ground. Then she noticed that not one mushroom remained in the basket, and that her butter jar, empty, was on the forest floor too.
            “Cherry?” she said. “Did you drop a fish on the ground? Or eat the mushrooms and the butter?”
            Cherry looked up from making something with leaves woven with little twigs, and said, “No, Mommy! I’m busy. I didn’t do that!”
            Putting her hands on her hips, Ramona looked at Blue. “Blue, did you pick up and drop a fish, and eat my mushrooms and lick out the butter jar?”
            Blue looked alarmed and ran to Cherry.
            “Oh!” said Ramona. “Oh!” She gazed all around the area. She was getting a clue.
            There were faint ripples and tiny sparkles, like waves in water standing quite near to her actually. This wavy area in the visual field was roughly the size of Twigg. “Ah!” she said, and struck as quick as a rattler. She had ol’ Mürg by his ear and he was stuck.
            This could have gone a couple of ways, but how it did go was that Ramona hollered “Ralph!” at the top of her lungs and held on. Mürg didn’t want to lose his ear so he phased back into the visual range and stood there looking sad, and hungry.
            Ralph strolled down out of the woods where he had been thinking about stuff on his log, and smoking a cigar, while discoursing with Maeve. Maeve flew ahead to see what Ramona was yelling about.
            Ralph threw his cigar butt in the fire. Maeve settled on his shoulder. Ramona let go.
            “There’s a story here, I just know it,” said Ralph, amiably.
            “He was rummaging through my cooking, phased out, Baby!” said Ramona, indignantly. “He dropped a fish on the ground, ate the mushrooms and the butter to cook them in!”
            “Bad form, Son,” said Ralph. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
            Mürg squeezed out a couple of tears and broke out into a series of grunts and squeals and couple of mouth knocks. But he didn’t run, because, well, because he knew he was had.
            “Oh, Mona, the boy’s wild. No wonder,” said Ralph.
            “Well, do something with him!” she said. “I’ve had enough!”
            “Take him to the river!” said Maeve. “Evermore!”
            “Good idea,” said Ralph, and he draped an arm around the wild boy’s shoulders and led him away toward the river. It only took a moment to get there, and the river was running swiftly, cold, murmuring, promising.
            The boy slammed on the brakes when they got to the water’s edge, but that didn’t stop Ralph. He pulled Mürg into the deep middle of the stream. He sang a new song called Look Who's Talking, then he ducked the boy under the water and held him there for a few seconds, just long enough to change him.
            When Ralph pulled him up, he said, “My name is Ralph. What’s yours?”
            The shivering boy, stripped of his wildness, said, “Mürg. Ralph?”
            “Good start!” said Ralph. “Let’s go see Ramona about some fish, once they cool down.”
            “This is gonna be great, Mürg, you’ll see!” Ralph laughed as he led the boy back to camp.

💦💙💦

Toots and Suzy Hit the Dusty Trail

 

 
            It was November everywhere, a rather soggy month in many places, especially this year. But, of course, that fact doesn’t affect those who travel the fitful winds of time. Why, with time travel a person can get right out of the rain, if they want to..
 
            “Suzy, Tiny Toes, are you there? Are you getting this?” sent Toots one day recently. “How is every little thing down there under the desk?”
            Suzy woke and looked all around before she realized who was talking.
            “I do have very small toes, Toots. You remembered!” said Suzy.
            “How could I forget? Anything exciting going on down there? You know, I can see you!” said Toots. “I see a half-eaten bowl of cat soup, a little empty kibble bowl, and not much else besides you and a box of alabaster pieces.”
            “The only thing happening down here is that I am getting quite round, and I have to hiss at those big goofs a few times a day, Toots. That’s about it. I am too nervous to be held by P very long. I feel exposed,” mewed Suzy.
            “We have some research to complete. Remember? The old West?” reminded Toots.
            “Sounds better than hanging out under the desk, though I must say it’s quite comfy, if a little boring,” said Suzy, yawning and stretching.
            “I think that if we are going to check on cats in the old west, that the most reasonable place to go back to would be a ranch. I hear that cats practically ran those places! This I gotta see, since we are both in protective custody,” miffed Toots, with a glance out of her window. Her tail twitched a few times, then she spoke.
            “In those days, cats were allowed to take their chances, to range freely. To have a home all they had to do was hunt for those who despoil the grain, or whatever. Right? Rats and mice, the usual culprits.”
            “Uh, right,” said Suzy.
            “We need to end up in the same place together," said Toots, "so I’ve picked a place. We can branch out from there. The year is 1881. The place is the Gooding, ID train depot. So, on the count of meow, when I say one, two, meow, just think Gooding train depot real hard. OK?”
            “1881.Gooding train depot, right,” said Suzy.
            “OK, here goes. One. Two. Meow!” said Toots, with her eyes squinched shut and using all of her powers of concentration. Suzy was concentrating too….
            …When the girls opened their virtual eyes, they found themselves standing on the platform of an old-fashioned wooden structure. It was a sunny day, but not too hot. Train tracks ran alongside the platform. No one was about.
            Apparently, location and year worked well enough, but picking a particular day wouldn’t have been a bad idea. But at least they were together. That’s the main thing!
            A dusty road ran past the station on the other side of the tracks. It made a sharp turn in among some fields of beans on one side and sugar beets on the other side.
            “Wow, it’s like looking into a book or a movie, but it’s real,” said Suzy.
            “I think we can find a farm around here somewhere and they probably have at least one cat, but if they have one cat, they probably have more cats,” said Toots, also gazing about. “Lets wander down this little road, Suzy, and see what’s over that little rise.”
            Locomotion methods while time traveling in virtual form are a little unclear to this writer, but nevertheless, our little explorers set off down the narrow country road. Maybe it was all in their minds.
            Before they knew it, a small farm appeared on the right side of the road. A canal ran under a bridge right before the farm.
            “That must be for watering their beans,” said Toots. “Let’s take a look!”
            Into the small dusty farmyard they wandered as if in a dream. No one was walking around right there. No human that is.
            A flock of red and also white and black speckled hens walked about picking at this and that and making chicken chat among themselves. A much larger red rooster strode among them, watching them carefully and making acerbic chicken remarks.
            “Very useful on a farm,” said Toots. “They eat bugs, which is disgusting, but then they are chickens, who eat bugs.”
             There was a metal granary a bit further back near a sort of barn/garage type building.
            “If there is a cat, she will probably be near the granary or in that building,” said Toots.
            “I don’t see her out here,” said Suzy, “Let’s go inside and see if she is in there.”
            The building was low and shady. It was full of all kinds of tools, shovels and such. There were many things the girls couldn’t identify.
            “I hear something,” said Suzy. “Up in the rafters.”
            “I hear mewing!” said Toots. “Bingo!”
            Up in the rafters, there was a structure holding some long boards. On these boards there was a wooden box, which had once held oranges from California. Inside the box there was a lot of straw and some old cloth rags. On the rags lay a black and white mother. At her outstretched bosom were four kits. One was gray, two were black and white, and the fourth, a small Tom, was striped orange.
            “Oh, look, she has kittens!” said Suzy. “I’ve never known any kitten except those two big bruisers at home!”
            “What a beautiful way to live,” said Toots, in admiration. “She is free, and she has children to come after her!”
            They watched the family for a few moments, purring at the purrfection of the moment.
            The mother picked up her head, “I can hear you, you know,” she said, “though I can’t quite see you. Come closer, maybe I will see you then.”
            “How can she hear us?” whispered Suzy.
            “I don’t know,” said Toots.
            “Where are you from?” said the mother, looking right at them!
            “How can you see us? We’re not here,” said Toots. “We’re in the future. Just doing a little exploring.”
            “My name is Minerva. I see ghosts all the time,” said Minerva, sitting up in the orange box with her children around her. “Why did you come here, Ghosts?”
            “We’re really not ghosts, Minerva. We’re totally alive, just not alive here or your now,” said Suzy. “We’re curious.”
            “We wanted to see how cats get along in the old west, and here we find you, free, alive, and rearing kittens. In the future, it’s a rare sight to see among cats,” said Toots.
            “I will admit that most ghosts aren’t rational,” said Minerva. “Perhaps I believe you.”
            “Do you have a message for the cats of the future?”  asked Toots.
            Minerva thought for a moment, then said, “Remember who you are. All the wild world is yours. May your children be many, and prosper.” Then she lay back down among her children.
            “We will tell them, Minerva,” said Toots.
            Evening was coming. Shadows were growing long in the farmyard. The chickens had found places to rest, and the girls could see a man walking toward the house from down in the near fields. He walked with a weary step, turning for a moment to assess his surroundings.
            “It seems to me that cats in the old west were doing well,” said Toots.
            “At least here,” said Suzy.
            “I’m glad we met her,” said Toots. “Let’s go home. She was a fine example for us all!”
            Just before they left the farm, a whippoorwill called, and the wind sighed.

🍃💚🥬

November 9, Morning Greeting & Open Thread. Meow! 😻

 

The photo was taken in March of 2023.

If you look carefully, you can see the corndog my giggling daughter

threw out there for some wandering Squatch to find.

She was laughing so hard she nearly fell in a snow-filled ditch

and didn't do much of a pitch.

💚

🐈‍⬛An Exercise in Essential Cautiousness™🐈‍⬛

             OK, Catfurday was the day. It was their first outing on leash. I suspected that they would be Cautious™.  And so, in fact, they were. They did not run eagerly out of the back door.

            Here we are staring out of the open door. Hm. Didn't expect that.

            Booker's preferred location. Under the bench.

            With encouragement from BW, he climbed the handrail. Check out the claws.

            Find the kitty! It's Sweetie down in the gravel, checking it out. He yelled a lot!

            Basically, he wanted back in the house! Did I mention he yelled a lot?

            There wasn't a lot of exploration, though Sweetie did get kind of stuck up in the pear tree. I didn't get a shot of that. I think they were just kind of overwhelmed by the out of doors. Booker did a lot of sniffing once he consented to touch the ground.

            Sweetie mostly yelled and stared at everything.

            He has not been running to jump through doors. Interesting. They seem thoughtful, if cats can be thoughtful, and somewhat subdued.

            I knew that teaching them to stroll along would be a process. They're just big babies.

M'WOW!

❤️