Hannah's Kitten

 

            No doubt you’ll remember the very young tabby kitten who woke Ralph from his contemplations on his log one fateful day. Ralph took the little beast to Ramona to consult with her. It was decided that they couldn’t keep him in the Home Clearing, and that Twigg had a family of rather wild cats already, and that Thaga had Harold already, who probably didn’t want to raise a baby version of himself.
            So, Ralph had decided to run the baby over to Rick to see if Rick needed a station Tomcat. Rick was just trying to figure out how to say no, without being a rat, because he had two cats at home and didn’t feel qualified to raise a baby cat at the station when Dexter blew in.
            Dexter, that sweet young guy, took one look at the kitten, and there were stars in his eyes. He wanted that kitty so badly. It was love at first mew.
            On the instant, he thought of his new wife, Hannah, the campground host, up there holding court in the small mobile home, when she wasn’t strolling about getting to know the campers and answering the same kinds of questions every day. Kitten and Hannah went together in his mind. What could be more natural or lovely, he thought?
            Having ascertained that Rick didn’t claim the kitten, Dexter took him from Rick and left to find Hannah at a gallop.
            Once outside the office, he noticed that the breeze was a bit chilly, so he put the little thing in his jacket pocket, where it settled down quietly after a few        small questioning meows. Then Dexter started moving again. He didn’t want to jiggle this child too much, so he walked.
            First, he went to the mobile. He stuck his head in the door and called for Hannah. But she wasn’t there. Not that it was really possible to hide in there, small as it was.
            He scanned the campground. Ah, there she was, talking with an elderly lady by a large fancy RV.
            He approached the two ladies with a grin on his face.
            “Dexter!” said Hannah, “Is everything alright?”
            The older lady looked from Hannah to Dexter with a question in her eyes.
            “Ma’am, this young ranger is my husband,” said Hannah, by way of introduction.
            “Oh, he looks like he has something important to tell you,” said the lady, a Mrs. Brooks.
            “Why, yes, he doesn’t often come looking for me with a big grin on his face,” said Hannah, laughing.
            “I have a surprise for you, Hannah! Close your eyes,” said Dexter.
            So, with Mrs. Brooks looking on and smiling, Hannah closed her eyes and waited.
            Dexter took the little cat out of his pocket and said, “Put out your hands, cupped!” He put the tiny guy into Hannah’s two hands.
            She inhaled sharply and opened her eyes, and then held the kitten against her bosom.
            “Oh!” said Hannah.
            “Aw!” said Mrs. Brooks.
            “Dexter, where did he come from? Is he ours?” cried Hannah, with approximately the same silly look on her face that Dexter had in the station office.
            “Ralph found him in the forest and brought him to Rick. Rick said he was free for the taking, so I did!” said Dexter. “And now he is our cat, unless you don’t want him.”
            The kitten did what kittens do, when a decision is being made in their regard. He purred and snuggled Hannah.
            “Of course, I want him, Dexter!” said Hannah. “He’ll need some things, you know. A litter box, kitten food, a bed of some kind.”
            “I’ll ask Rick if I can take off for an hour and run into town, maybe you should come too. You can pick what he needs,” said Dexter.
            “We travel with a cat. Not a baby, but I have something he might like, for before you go shopping,” said Mrs. Brooks, otherwise known as Alice.
            “Thank you, Alice,” said Hannah.
            Mrs. Brooks went back up into her nice RV, and came back with a couple of those tubes of soft food they give cats for a treat. “I bet he would like to have some of this before you get proper kitten food,” she said. “Most cats love them, and it’s soft stuff.”
            Dexter and Hannah took their baby cat home, and squeezed one of the tubes into a small saucer, and the kitten did like the soft food.
            “What shall we call him?” said Dexter.
            “Honey Bear,” said Hannah. “Maybe we’ll call him Bear for short, but Honey Bear should be his whole name.”
            “Perfect!” said Dexter. “A perfect name for the Maple Heart Camp cat!”

          Rick did allow Dexter and Hannah, with Bear, to go to Arlington to the supermarket to buy supplies for their new family member. When they came back, they had a small basket with a soft lining, a litter box and litter, and some tinned kitten food.

            And as long as Dexter and Hannah worked at the Maple Heart Camp, Bear, who grew up there, was the campground cat. He became a rather large cat, and no one ever knew how he came to be in the Great Forest that day. But he was a very fortunate kitten, all considered.

💚🐻💚

Out On The Western Edge

 Yes, it's an open thread.

The photo was taken in Oregon, November 7, 2020, by my Navigator.

We keep going down there in the winter in hopes of storms.

That coast is prime Ralph territory too.

But we tend to mind our own business, so no sightings. 

Yet!

To the best of my ability, I bless you all.

💚

The Conversation

 

            “Alright, your majesty, Ralph, old buddy,” said Rick. “Time to come clean.”
            “What?” Ralph said, innocently, still munching on a bite of cherry turnover.
            “So, yeah, the big bear gambit seems to have worked. I’m not getting anymore chat about the Honey Bear, or the big brown bear who visited the other night. However, I have sensed a certain amount of evasiveness from you myself. The farmers are long gone back to their farms. All is serene and clicking right along at Maple Heart Camp.
            “I know you know who it was, and I don’t know why it’s such a big mystery,” said Rick. “Are you shielding someone, Ralph?”
            “Um, what makes you think so?” said the king, evasively.
            “I’m a little hurt, Ralph. You can trust me. You know that, don’t you?”
            “Aw, Rick. I’m sorry. I don’t want you to feel like that,” said Ralph.
            Rick stood up and walked over to the window, looking out toward the dumpster. He sighed. “You know, I’m supposed to keep track of things around here. And that was a thing.”
            “The Honey Bear didn’t break anything, or hurt anybody, did he?” said Ralph. He swiveled around to look at Rick’s back.
            “No, he didn’t hurt anybody or break anything, he just got some farmers talking,” said Rick.
            “Jeez, Rick, the Honey Bear was Twigg. Couldn’t you figure that out? Who else is out here fitting the description?” said Ralph. “I was covering for my kid. And he isn’t coming back to haunt the campground at night anymore.”
            “I understand covering for your kid, that much makes sense to me,” said Rick. “But, why was he here that night? Marge isn’t here anymore,” said Rick. “Marge isn’t even Marge anymore, which you know better than I do.”
            “Twigg is embarrassed,” said Ralph.  “Because he was there for a silly reason. He was trying to surprise Leely.”
            “I’m still confused. How?” Rick turned around and went back to his desk.
            “Why?” said Rick.
            “When I asked him, he told me that Leely said that when she was working here, that out beyond the walking trails, deep in the forest that there was a small patch of Trillium flowers growing that she used to love to photograph. She said she missed them. Twigg decided to dig a couple up and bring them to her to pot and keep. He feels silly about being seen hunting a flower in the middle of the night,” Ralph said, “And he’s very sorry to have alarmed anyone.”
            “Fer Pete’s sake, Ralph. A romantic gesture?”
            “Yep. He’s pretty goofy about her, you know?”
            “He’s a model for us all,” said Rick, laughing now. “In a way, it’s a good thing those guys called him some kind of a bear. Made life easier for me. Whoever heard of a Squatch being called a Honey Bear?”
            “New to me, Rick. I thought it was kind of cute.”
            Rick took their mugs out to the kitchen nook and filled them again, to wash away the momentary awkwardness between himself and his friend.
            “Did she like the flowers?” said Rick.
            “She loved them so much that she cried a little. But, I’m not sure Trillium are really suited for living in a pot. But it might work next to the Alder Tree House.
            “Did I ever tell you about the tree spirit I pulled out of a dead fir and sent over there to live in a young alder?
            “Well, anyhow, I think she might keep an eye on that pot of Trillum flowers. Stranger things have happened,” said Ralph.
            “You didn’t, but I believe you,” Rick murmured.

💚

Run Away! Run Away! Fly Away!

 

⭐

 
            “Toots, what do you think it means to wish upon a star?” said Suzy one long night, from under the bed.
            “Oh, hi. I hear you,” Toots said from her secure location in the lumber rack. “Why do you ask?”
            “It’s a song I heard playing from the desk. It said, ‘When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything you heart desires will come to you.’” Suzy sort of whispered.
            “I sort of wondered if that might work for cats.”
            “I’m sure it works for thinking cats. I can’t speak to all cats. Let me think,” said Toots. “OK. I think what I’ve heard is that if you look at a certain star and say, ‘I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight,’ or something like that, that it’s stronger than just thinking your wish. Like saying the words is stronger? I don’t know,” said Toots.
            “How is that different from Purring™” said Suzy, still hiding.
            “Maybe they come from the same place in the heart,” said Toots. “Are you still hiding from those juvenile Tomcats?”
            “Yes, but not as much. I have to come out to eat sometimes,” said Suzy.
            “Aw, what’s your heart’s desire, Honey?” said Toots very kindly.
            “I wish the boys would leave me alone, or at least show some respect. I’m not a toy, or a prey animal! It’s not dignified to have to run for cover at my age!” said Suzy.
            “So, you were thinking about wishing on a star?”
            “Well, yeah. I wondered if it might work.”
            “I have an idea!” said Toots. “How about if we pick a star and go ask in person? Would you like to?”
            “Oh! Could we do that?” said Suzy. “How can we pick a star?”
            “I’ve heard the name of one. I hear stuff all the time. There is one called Proxima Centauri. I think that means it’s the closest to us. So, if we think about it together, I believe we can visit it together,” said Toots. “Want to try right now?”
            “OK, lead the way!” mrrred Suzy.
            “OK. Let’s both say Proxima Centauri at the same time and hold that thought,” said Toots.
            In a mere twinkling of a cat’s whisker, Toots and Suzy found themselves in dark space looking down on a star just ahead of them. It was a lot like the sun, but not quite. Might have been bigger, or a slightly different color.
            “I’m a little afraid, Toots,” said Suzy.
            “Remember that the parts of us that can get hurt are not here. It’s just our minds,” said Toots. “Let’s get closer.”
            Proxima Centauri loomed closer until it looked like what it was, a huge ball of some kind of fire burning away there, suspended in space.
            “OK, now might be the time to wish upon this star,” said Toots, in an awed voice.
                        “I feel silly now,” said Suzy. “My problem with the kittens doesn’t seem very important.”
            “Well, try it anyhow,” said Toots.
            “I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. I wish Booker and Sweetie would stop chasing me, and treat me like a nice auntie or something,” wished Suzy with her mind’s eyes squinched shut.
            Then they hung around admiring the star and looking for planets.
            After a while Suzy said, “I think the star told me something. It’s like a message from the star I think!”
            “What did it say?”
            “Wait. Be patient. They are big children. Children grow up, and time will tell. Make friends with these children,” said Suzy.
            “That’s a pretty good answer,” said Toots.
            “The funny thing is, I knew that stuff. But it’s hard to be patient when they rush me like they do.”
            “I’m not surprised. Many times, we already know the answer. It’s just a matter of realization and getting with the program,” said Toots. “So, patience, my Dear.”
            “It’s a pretty star. It was fun getting so close to our closest neighbor star, but it’s nearly morning at our homes on Earth, so let’s go back home, Toots, shall we?”
            So, together they said, “There’s no place like home!”
            On about the third repetition, Toots found herself back in the lumber rack. She was thinking about coming out of hiding.
            Suzy found herself under the bed and decided that it was time to find a little nibble out at the cat buffet in the kitchen.
            Booker and Sweetie, slept on, in the careless, zonked out manner of the teenagers they were.

🐈💙🐈

One Of Those Days 🌸Open Thread

 

We were just hanging out on a shiny beach in Oregon,
with a lot of seabirds, in Jan. 2015,

Right on the edge of the continent! 

A very thought provoking location!

A fine F'lineday to all!

💙

The Way It All Turned Out

 

 
            It was a fine pickle Ralph found himself in. He was in that rather middle-aged spot, so well-known by the Hairless.   
            Ralph was torn between his cheerful insouciant appetite for all the good things of life, but also his desire to appear as he always had, sleek, lithe, and breathtakingly powerful. Poor Ralph.
            And yet, somehow, an idea kept tickling his mind. It was unformed but he was working on it. The equation seemed flawed somehow. It seemed like Hairless mythological consensus of some kind. It didn’t add up for Ralph.
            “I can talk their talk, but they can’t walk my walk,” he said to himself. He hummed a kind of emphatic little tune, then sang the words with it. He liked it.
            The planet rolled over a couple of times. Ralph ate at home. Ramona didn’t bake biscuits, Thaga, being put in the know, did not send over any of those 8 inch in diameter cinnamon rolls.  Nobody said the words Honey Bear in his presence, even if they thought of it and giggled.
            Ramona ran out of coffee. Ralph really wanted a cup.
            He decided that this called for a visit with Rick over at the station. That was really just about all, he didn’t have any serious business to discuss with Rick, though he thought it might be fun to hear the gossip in the camp about the huge brown bear that had made such a ruckus in the campground a few days before.
            “Mona, my dear, I believe I shall go see Rick and have some coffee while I am there,” he said.
            “Oh, nice,” said faithful Ramona. “Why don’t you take a little run through the forest first?”
            “What an excellent idea,” Ralph said. “That’s just what I will do, then loop around to the station.”
            Now, Ralph doesn’t thump the ground like some of those guys you hear about. He has special hips, and special knee joints, and his feet are made to land softly. So, when he took off, first up to the big meadow, running past his log he made a splendid sight. His kingliness in full display he slipped up the path. He took a loop near the Alder Tree House, noting that they were indoors, so he didn’t stop.
            He ran through the woods to the smaller, wilder meadow, pacing himself, until he got to Bob’s Stump House, where he found Bob and Maurice working on a song about the mythical Honey Bear.
            “Why are you running, Ralphie,” said Uncle Bob.
            “I’m on my way to see Ranger Rick,” said Ralph.
            “Do you want to hear our new song?” asked Bob.
            “Sure, I can stop for a minute. What’s it about?” said Ralph.
            “It’s the Honey Bear Polka!” said Maurice, starting right into playing it.
            “Hey, I know what,” said Ralph, “listen.”
            So, while Maurice played the tune to the Honey Bear Polka Ralph sang,
                        “I can talk their talk,”
                        “But they can’t walk my walk!”
            “That’s true, Ralphie,” sang Uncle Bob, looking happy as heck.
                        “Who can walk my walk?” sang Ralph, while Maurice went for it!
                        “I can walk my walk!
                        “So, watch me walk!”
                        “I know things they don’t!”
            “That was fun, Ralphie,” said Uncle Bob.
            “Yes, it sure was! Now I gotta keep going!” said Ralph and he headed out for the ranger station at a full smooth lope.
            Of course, he had to come up through the forest, and check that the coast was clear before popping out from behind the station dumpster. It looked wide open, so he slipped right over to the door, knocked, and stuck his head in.
            “You there, Rick,” Ralph sang to the tune of the Honey Bear Polka.
            “I’m right here, Ralph. Why are you singing?” said Rick, seated at his desk.
            “Oh, Maurice and Uncle Bob started it. It’s hard to stop it, once started.”
            “Fair enough,” said Rick. “Want coffee?”
            “Yessir, I do. Hey, anymore talk about the big bear in the camp?” said Ralph.
            “Not much. Campers come and go. This new bunch doesn’t know what happened. And the bear hasn’t been back. Hannah was a little mad when she found out, but relieved that it was just you playing bear.”
            “Yeah, she probably didn’t like being scared,” said Ralph.
            “I have cherry turnovers today!” Rick said suggestively
            “What a lovely idea, I’ve never had a cherry turnover,” said Ralph, grabbing a seat, while Rick brought him some coffee in one hand, and carried the Tupperware box of turnovers out in his other hand.
            When Rick got to where he could see all of Ralph, he said, “What the heck happened, Ralph? Last time I saw you, you had a belly like a pre-hibernation grizzly bear!”
            “Ah, Rick,” Ralph said, smiling like the Buddha, “It’s good to be king of the Forest Giants!”
            “I have to believe what I see, Ralph, but…” said Rick, just standing there.
            “What can I say?” said Ralph, taking a little sip of Rick’s terrible Safeway coffee.

👑

Nottabear, But Close!

 

🐻

 
            You know how it is. Suddenly, you just notice something you hadn’t been noticing. Then suddenly, there it is. In this case, it was Ralph’s tummy, and Ramona was doing the noticing.
            One early morning, just as she was waking, she noticed a big round thing right behind her under the quilt.
            “Bear!” thought Ramona, as she leapt out of bed. But when she looked back to the bed there was only Ralph. Rather a lot of Ralph. In fact, he had gotten rather rotund in his middle.
            As she stood there studying his tummy in the half light of their home cave, she wondered how it had happened. Not much had changed. Well, maybe.
            He still went out hunting, or fishing every day. He gathered firewood every day. Ramona just didn’t see how he could grow a bear’s tummy when he was so hardworking.
            She thought about the food she cooked. It was mostly fish, or soup, or eggs, or a roast of some kind. She thought maybe it was the cooking that did it! Oh, dear! It had been a long many years since they had eaten uncooked food like their ancestors.
            Ramona shuddered delicately, and went outside to work on her fire.
            When Ralph woke and yawning, wandered out to sit by the fire. It occurred to Ramona, looking at him, that an observer might actually mistake her Ralph for a bear. Embarrassing.
            “Baby,” she said, “why do so many Hairless men have such big bellies?”
            “Um. Beer? I don’t know for sure. What are you saying, Mona?” he said looking down at his own mid-section.
            “Well, I hope learning to cook didn’t make you look like one of them, Baby,” said Ramona. “I don’t really feel like eating raw fish and meat and stuff, do you?”
            “I don’t either, really. Though we could. Do you think it would help?” asked Ralph.
            “Can you think of anything else that makes humans look like bears?” said Ramona, not tipping her hand. She’s like that.
            “Maybe human food makes human bellies, Mona. I just love that junk, but I do kind of look like a bear. Maybe a Honey Bear!” he said, giggling. “Actually, I have an idea. Maybe when I go see Rick, I should just have the coffee! Surely, coffee never made anyone look like a bear, did it, Mona?”
            “I don’t see how it could,” she said.
            “Well, I know it wasn’t your good food. It was something else, and I think I know what. I’ll stick to coffee when I visit Rick, and lay off snitching Doritos, sad as that is!” he said.
            “I hate it when I run and all this jumps up and down. It’s not right. I’m supposed to glide!”
            “I know, Baby,” said Ramona. “I’ll stop making biscuits, and you don’t eat all Rick’s goodies and in no time, you will be just like you were before!”
            So, for breakfast they had coffee and some eggs and a bit of leftover venison. Not a carbohydrate in the bunch!

🍁🍵🍁

Suzy's Dilemma

 

            “OK, Suz, dish,” said Toots, firmly. “Just exactly what’s pulling your tail?”
            “Funny you should mention my tail,” said Suzy. She was in full retreat under some unstated piece of furniture at the time.
            “What’s funny about it?” inquired Toots.
            “Well, it’s my tail. They don’t actually pull it, but they sure do chase it, and Toots, they are so big now, I just run and hide!”
            “I see. Have you considered standing your ground?” Toots looked thoughtful.
            “I think the both of them would run right into me. I don’t know? Maybe they think they could eat me!” said Suzy.
            “No, Honey. I understand that you are dealing with a reflex that comes natural to me too. But I’m pretty sure it’s a game for the big stupid kittens. I think that if you put your paw down firmly and faced them without running away, well, where’s the fun in that for them. You would suddenly become just a little old lady cat who wouldn't put up with their foolishness.
            “I’ve heard the word dumheit used around here. I think I get the sense of it. That’s what they’re doing and they need a firm paw taken with them!” said Toots.
            “But, Toots, I don’t know how to change my basic nature!” cried Suzy. “When those big strong, fast kids come running at me, well thinking is over with. I turn tail!”
            “I like to think that I wouldn’t do that. But I might. There are things on the cosmic breeze sometimes that make me just hide until it’s over, whatever it is,” said Toots.
            “What I’ve been doing is screaming as loudly as I can when one gets too close to where I have hidden,” said Suzy. “She calls them out, and they back down. But it’s a temporary reprieve. Though today, I had a nice quiet time in the bedroom with the door closed, and my own bowl of food. She did that for me.”           
            “I can feel that you feel there is no solution, but maybe there is. You know what I’m thinking don’t you?” said Toots.
            “Yeah, I do. We two are gathered together, so it’s time to Purr™ about this. Maybe the Great Sire of all cats will take notice of my dilemma, Toots.”
            “I’m sure of it, and I’m sure things will improve. If nothing else, the Scouts will grow up and not be so silly,” said Toots.
            “We should contemplate peace,” she added.
            So the girls, each in her separate place, so far from each other, shut their green eyes, put their noses down on their forepaws and Purred together, as one, for peace between Suzy and the Bengal Brothers.

AMEN!

❤️

The Scourge of Maple Heart Camp

 

            So, Bill Erickson, Arlington High School science teacher, stepped out of his RV to take the air a little. It had gotten dark while he and April were in there making and eating dinner. While smoking, he noted one other camping rig, and four tents. Seemed to Bill like a rather cold time of year to be tent camping. Maybe they had their love to keep them warm, he thought, amusing himself.
            He was just thinking about how remarkably quiet it was in the mountains at night, when he heard rustling behind one of the tents. It was the dark one, no light shone through the nylon.
            “What is that?” he asked himself and listened closely. There were footsteps, but not the famous night time bipedal steps one hears of. Nope. Shuffling, hesitant, definitely four-footed steps. Likely a bear, Bill thought.
            Then he saw it, the doggone biggest bear Bill had ever had the honor of being in the presence of. He held his breath and considered bolting in to April and safety, but something made him wait and watch.
            A huge ursine silhouette padded around to the door side of the tent. It seemed as if the bear must have bitten the zipper pull, for the next thing was that the door was unzipped and half of the bear was in the tent. There was a bloodcurdling scream, and the bear beat a quick retreat with a crinkly sounding bag of something in its jaws. There was some more screaming, some masculine yelling, a lamp came on, and a man stood outside the tent, hands on hips, before climbing back into his tent and rezipping the entrance.
            Bill later swore, he heard laughter as the bear hotfooted it back into the deep brush before the tree line.            
            The next morning was a busy one for Ranger Rick.
            There were two men waiting to see him when he drove into the station parking area. He saw them before he parked, and thought, “Here we go!”
            Bill, the older one, felt that it was his duty to report a rogue bear in the area.
            Mike, the younger camper, wanted to report a bear which had stolen his bag of Doritos and scared the beans out of his wife, Louella. “Its big fat face was right there!” he said.
            Bill told Mike that he had heard the whole thing, and said, “What were you laughing about after that?”
            “I wasn’t laughing,” indignant Mike said. “I was the kind of mad you get after being scared silly!”
            “Somebody was laughing out loud, and it wasn’t the bear!” insisted Bill.
            Rick took their reports cheerfully. He said they had never had a bear cause serious trouble at Maple Heart Camp, and that he would be on the lookout for the rascal!
            Most of that day, a Tuesday passed without incident, after the morning reports.
            Bill and April decided to stick around and give the camp another chance. It wasn’t their Doritos that went missing, after all.
            Mike and Louella also decided that they were no worse for the wear really and remained.
            There was more excitement Wednesday morning. When Rick got to work, the lid of the dumpster was flopped back. Rick repositioned it, then walked into his office.
            Hannah called Rick on his mobile. “I woke up at midnight and was hearing something, so I looked out my kitchen window, and there was a bear the size of a VW Bug walking right down the middle of the campground parking area, Rick!” said Hannah, sounding just a bit edgy. “A bear that big could do anything it wanted, and nobody could stop it, Rick!”
            “Oh, Hannah, are you sure you were really awake?” said Rick. “I’ve never seen such an animal here and I’ve been working here for twelve years.” He said soothingly. He grinned at the phone in his hand.
            “If there is bear trouble, I’m out of here!” she said, signing off.
            When Dexter got to the office, Rick said, “You know who that bear was, right?”
            “Should I tell Hannah?” said Dexter.
            “Maybe you better,” said Rick. “Maybe I should talk to Ralph.”
            Then, just as if his ears had been burning, Ralph stuck his head in the office door.
            “Hey, Rick. Hey, Dexter,” he said. “How’s it going? Any bears in the camp here?” He squeezed the rest of himself through the door and took his accustomed seat. He smiled benevolently at both men.
            “You blew your cover a little bit by guffawing when you ran off with the Doritos. But it will blow over. Nobody will believe him anyhow. He looks like he’s tripping,” said Rick. “Did you see the crazy Fu Manchu whiskers on him?”
            “Oh, the smoker outside the RV?” said Ralph. “I love Doritos. Can’t get enough. Milly brings me some sometimes.”
            “Nobody can get enough Doritos,” said Rick, “that’s what’s wrong with them. Hey, did you ever catch up with our original Honey Bear?”
            “Won’t happen again, Rick,” said Ralph.
            “You sure?” said Rick, brightening up.
            “Oh, and I think I muddied the waters enough! Big brown bear in camp must equal Honey Bear in camp! Aren’t words fun?” said Ralph with his fingers laced over his tummy and a big grin on his face.
            Rick still had most of his birthday cake out in the kitchen nook. So, between the three of them they finished it off, with lots of awful Safeway coffee. The cake was good. Chocolate with lemon buttercream icing.
            Rick gave Ralph the candles to take home to Ramona for fire starters.

🍂🐻🍁

Summer's Perfect Rose

 

There is no way to choose the best of summer.

Each unfolding perfect in its way.

Color; profound, deep, or delicate and dreamlike,

So soon a memory,

When rain comes again,

And skies are grey.

Perhaps with snow.

❄️❤️❄️

Who Goes There?

 

            Rick’s kind of an old-school guy in some ways. So, this Monday morning, as he settled down at his desk, he had the Monday paper in one hand and his coffee in the other. It was still nice and quiet in the ranger station office. Dexter hadn’t appeared. All serene.
            Then he opened the paper, scanned the front page type news, including the national catastrophes. He turned the page, and began to read some local stuff. Ho-hum!  
            One headline came at him like a bolt out of the blue.

Honey Bear Sighted in Maple Heart Campground

            Rick sat up straight! Maple Heart Campground was right where he was sitting right that very second. This was news to Rick, as well as to readers of the Milltown news.
            “What’s a Honey Bear, for Heaven’s sake?” Rick asked himself. But he had a bad squirrely feeling in the very bottom of his gut. He read on.
            The character who said he saw the Honey Bear, was a farmer from flyover country visiting the PNW. Now, he didn’t explain what one was, but apparently it was important enough to get ahold of the sheriff’s dept and make a report.
            “But not me?” said Rick. He read on. This sighting had occurred in the evening. OK. So, He hadn’t been in the office. OK.
            Dexter arrived on lightly tripping feet with a goofy look on his face.
            “What’s a Honey Bear? You got any idea?” said Rick.
            “Um. Kid’s cereal?” said Dexter.
            “Nope. Some goober says he saw one Saturday night in the camp here. It was enough of a big deal for him to call the sheriff’s dept and make a report. You don’t suppose..?” said Rick, staring off into the middle distance and feeling his sense of ease draining away.
            “You’re thinking that might be farmer talk for one of these Forest People?” said Dexter, losing the goofy grin. “Maybe you better talk to Ralph.”
            “Yeah, we know who’s really the boss around here,” agreed Rick.
            Therefore, Rick went out to his service vehicle, took a seat behind the steering wheel, and beeped out an SOS on his horn, and then waited.
            In about 17 minutes Rick could see Ralph standing right inside the tree line. He was gesturing to Rick to come to him. OK.
            Rick piled back out and went into the forest.
            “You got an emergency?” said Ralph.
            “Do you know what a Honey Bear is? There’s a story about a Honey Bear sighting here in the camp in the paper this morning. It doesn’t sound good. It sounds like some farmer was talking about one of you guys,” said Rick. “It was two nights ago, so he says.”
            “Hm, that does sound suggestive,” said Ralph. “I’ve never been called a Honey Bear, but you never know what these old timers might come up with!” He was giggling, hugely, which is truly awesome.
            “I betcha I know who it was. I told him that the campground was off limits. OK, let me think.”
            Ralph leaned on a tree; Rick waited. Maeve flew over but didn’t stop.
            “I know how to fix this, Rick. Tell you what. I’ll make myself look like a big old goofy bear and tonight I will raise enough of a ruckus in the campground that I will be seen. Problem solved. It was a bear! Of course, it was a bear! Simple!” said Ralph. “The next thing I will do is get ahold of who I think the culprit is and have a nice long talk with him about blowing MY cover in addition to his own,” said Ralph.
            “Why are we standing in the trees?” said Rick.
            “I just had a feeling, yanno?” said Ralph. “I feel elusive today.”
            “Who am I to doubt it,” said Rick. “So, you think that will work? Settle the public mind, the little dears?”
            “Remember, Rick, it’s always a bear. No matter what they say they saw, no they d’n’t. They saw a bear! Just play dumb, whatever you know!”
            “I can do that,” said Rick. Assuaged, he went back to his office. He threw the paper in his wastebasket, and got a fresh cup of coffee.
            “Everything OK,” said Dexter, who had waited to hear the word from Ralph.
            “Pretty sure, might take a day or two,” said Rick, opening his laptop and starting to poke around in it.
            Now, when Ralph got back home, in the bosom of the Great Forest, he said hi to Ramona.
            She said “Hi, Honey,” and Ralph cracked up.
            It took a couple of minutes for him to settle down enough to explain.

🧡🐻🧡

✡️5787 Coming Up, New Year Greetings!✡️

 

            You’ve all been very good sports. It’s been a lot of fun, tossing quips back and forth and posting this and that. It’s been quite a learning experience writing all those stories too.

            It seems like a good time to say thanks, here at the end of an old calendar year. As you may know, Rosh Hashanah begins tonight at sundown. According to Chabad.org, it celebrates the creation of Adam and Eve! Tradition, eh!

            In addition to my thanks, I have a question. Do any of you have any suggestions for the MEOW staff? What would you like to see in the near future?

            Also, I welcome contributions from you readers!

            But, most of all I wish you all the very best, and I continue to pray that God blesses you. I also hope the weather improves, sincerely!

 Love, pbird

🍂💚🍂

An Urchin at Large in The Great Forest

 

            Well, as you know, Ralph has set a perimeter around the Great Forest. It works on wandering humans, and other creature that he has specifically banned for cause. However, it does not stop animals from wandering in. Obviously, deer, bears, foxes, coyotes, wolves, turkeys, and every bird of the air have free passage into or out of the Great Forest.
            One foggy morning in the fall of Cherry’s 8^th year, Ramona and Cherry went over to the Silver River to wash some bowls and to get some clean water. Ramona carried the bucket of dirty bowls and Cherry carried a clean bucket. It was totally routine.
            While the girls were busy, Ralph took the opportunity to visit his office, so to speak, for a period of contemplating the Cosmos. Things were just getting good, and he was nearly asleep when he heard a strange little sound. A ripple passed through the Cosmos.
            The sound was pretty close, and rather unfamiliar, though it sounded like an animal of some kind in distress. He sighed and sat up, looking all around himself.
            Nobody could do any contemplating with that little despairing call nearby.
            Ralph threw his feet down to the forest floor and stood up. The sound became louder and seemed to come from very nearby. In fact, so near that he looked at his own feet, and there it sat. It was a small striped animal of the cat variety. The only domestic lions Ralph had ever met was Thaga’s Harold, or Twigg's family of cats. This one was much smaller, maybe the size of a potato, but with legs and tail, and ears and so on.
            Wandering immature kittens are always a mystery. They appear randomly sometimes. And they don’t indicate their origin in any way.
            “Where did you come from?” said Ralph, bending over and picking the tiny mewling thing up in his very large hand. He brought the little thing up to his face to examine it. Small green eyes looked into his very large brown eyes confidently.
            Obviously, this was a situation for Ramona to deal with. She would know what to do with this baby.
            When he got back down to the fire, Ramona and Cherry were sitting there singing songs in the old language together. Two pairs of eyes watched him approach.
            “Look who woke me up a few minutes ago,” said Ralph.
            “Let me see,” said Ramona. “Is it a cat? It’s awfully small.”
            “Yeah, I think so. It is awfully small,” agreed Ralph, as he handed the baby over to her to inspect.
            Cherry looked from face to face, and said, “Is it for us?”
            “I’m not sure,” said Ramona as she held the baby to herself and stroked his little head with one forefinger. “I suppose he’s hungry,” she said. "He's a boy."
            She didn’t have any milk or cream, but they did have some leftover fish, so she minced up a little serving of cooked fish and put it in a bowl with a little water, just in case the little thing was thirsty.
            “Twigg already has a family of cats,” said Ralph.
            “I know. Who else could use a kitty, Baby?”
            “I have Blue,” said Cherry. “And Thaga has Harold.”
            “I think I’ll take him to see Rick. Maybe he needs a ranger station cat!” said Ralph.
            So, after the tiny guy was full of fish and sleepy, Ralph picked him up and cradled him in his left elbow and took off to find Rick.
            When he got to where he could see the station door, he looked around and decided the coast was clear and slipped over to the door, knocked, and went on into Rick’s office.
            “Hey, Rick, are you in here?” said Ralph because he didn’t see him.
            “Yup. I’m in here,” Rick said, coming out of the storage room with a can of Safeway store brand coffee. “Whatcha got there, Ralph, old buddy?”
            Ralph held the little guy out to Rick. “Seems to be a small tomcat, Rick. Do you need a station cat? This guy woke me up when I was thinking. He’s loud!”
            Rick was just holding the little stripey guy and trying to figure out how to say he didn’t need a station cat, not really, when Dexter popped in the door.
            “Oh!” said Dexter. “Is it up for grabs? Does it have a home?”
            “He,” said Ralph and Rick at the same time.
            “He doesn’t have a home yet! He found me when I was thinking, and woke me up a few minutes ago,” said Ralph. “I completely don’t know where he came from!”
            “Can I take him to Hannah? Unless you want him, Rick?” said Dexter, eyes wide.
            “Sure, I bet Hannah would like a kitten,” said Rick. “We have two cats at home, and this one is free to go to you and Hannah! That’s just fine!”
            Dexter took the little thing from Rick, grinned like a ten-year-old, and took off at a run, banging the door and vanishing up into the campground.
            “Well,” said Ralph, grinning himself.
            “There ya go!” said Rick. “Success! Care for coffee, Ralph?”
            “Don’t mind if I do!” said Ralph, settling down in the special big chair in front of Rick’s desk.

🧡🐈‍⬛🧡

Just A Note, from Ralph, Himself

 

            Well, howdy, all! It’s been a busy summer here in the Great Forest. But now that the year is kind of rolling over, I’ve been thinking of you.
            In many ways it’s the most beautiful time of year. Up here, in the meadow everything is sort of golden. It’s too early for falling leaves, but you can tell it won’t be long. Soon the Alder Tree House will lose its leaves and look bare and different. There will be frost here in the Mt. B.S.N.F. Maybe not downhill, not yet anyhow.
            Flowers are going to seed, the grass has died back, and the berries, both black and red are all picked and eaten a while back.
            Down in the Home Clearing now, mornings come later, and we see some mist among the trees when the sun comes up. It feels good to gather close to Mona’s fire. And, there’s nothing like a cup of coffee with its steam rising up into the first sunbeams!
            I know some of you are still feeling the last very hot days of summer, but it will be over before you know it, even there. You might even end up missing some of that heat when winter comes.
            Ramona sends her love. She loves to hear about you guys, and she wishes you all well. She recommends soup making. She says it’s cheerful, and you end up with soup!
            Cherry says, “Hi!”
            Uncle Bob and Maurice are writing songs and doing fine. Maurice has a mystery on his hands. But I suppose we’ll hear more about that in the near future. He hasn’t had anymore weird visitors!
            Everything is quiet over at the river. Very quiet, except for the water.
            Maeve wants you to know, you know what! Yes. Evermore! When you think about it that’s pretty cool.
            OK, I learned a funny old word. Fantod. I pray that none of you fall victim to this aberrant mood disease! To me, it sounds like fleas in the heart. You don’t want fleas in your heart.
            It seems to me, and I have to do this too, that every moment of which you are aware carries within itself a choice. You know what it is. You don’t need me to tell you!
            Keep your chins up! We’re all in this together!
            I can’t write this stuff down, so you’ll have to take in on faith!
 
            Love, Ralph

                    🍁💚🍁

🐈‍⬛⭐The Tootsday Cat (Gossip) Report⭐🐈‍⬛

 

What it would really sound like.

☆🧡☆

            “Anything new, Miss Suzy,” inquired Toots, as it was time for the Tootsday Report.
            “Um, snack time! I’ll get back to you in a minute,” said Suzy. “OK. That didn’t take long!”
            “Oh! What kind did you get? Temptations? Or something else?”
            “Nope,” said Suzy. “We had two kinds of Japanese treats, shipped to our indulgent Auntie R. for us. Squishy things with no English on them, and crunchy things with no English on the package either. So elegant!”
            “Ooo!” said Toots. “So, how do you feel about butter?”
            “Ick,” said Suzy.
            “Check,” said Toots.
            “And check,” said Suzy. “Why do they keep trying to feed us that?”
            “Maybe they’re trying to get rid of it?”
            “Anything else?” inquired Miss Toots.
            “Well, let me tell you! Hold your potatoes, I think? Anyhow, I was napping under her desk yesterday and I happened to hear a conversation. Very hush hush! The story is that we are going to be in a book! Feature that, Tootsie!” whispered Suzy.
            “What in the world could there be to say about us? We never do anything or go anywhere! I bet she made it all up!” said Toots. “Nehhhkkk!!”
            “What a scary idea!” said Suzy. “I mean I could understand it if she was ratting on that Fluffbag, or grumpy Charlie, not to mention her adored darlings, the awful Scouts!”
            “I thought you liked those two!”
            “I did! Until they each outweighed me by three times!
            “Did I tell you about the latest? OK. Check this out! P bought a bag of catnip tea bags. Apparently, people drink this tea, Toots. Well, the adored Scouts stole two tea bags and chewed and snuffed them until they got rip-snorting high! Then, to top it off, they had a screaming fight on the kitchen floor!” said Suzy.
            “Ew, bad form,” agreed Toots.
            “Let me tell you what life is like these days, Dear. I don’t come out into the open until They are soundly asleep. I spend a lot of time under her desk, or behind the vacuum cleaner. They can’t fit behind it. They’re fat! Or, I have a safe nook under the bed. If they stick their noses too close…I growl as hard as I can go!”
            “It’s all about safety,” agreed Toots. “Sometimes I have to go undercover too!”
            “What does Sammie say?” said Suzy.
            “Not much. But I don’t see her hiding much. Maybe she’s a secret Warrior Ninja? But she sure doesn’t show appropriate Caution™, IMO. Toots looked a little concerned at this point.
            “Seems like she must be some kind of Ninja,” said Suzy, admiringly.
            “Do you have any special Purrs to report?” said Toots.
            “No special ones. Just the usual good stuff. Shelter, food, water, warmth, all in spite of the silly Scouts. No earthquakes! Ew! No volcanoes!” mrrred Suzy.
            “I haven’t seen any of those big Hairy guys out on the road recently either,” said Toots. “They give me the utter fantods,” she added, “Nor any fake owls hooting!”
            “I think we’re doing OK, Toots.”
            “I have to agree,” said Toots. “OK. I think that’s enough for today! Snooze well, undercover!”
            “Oh, I will, Honey, I will,” said Suzy.

            “Mrrrrt!”

The Thing That Maeve Saw, And Then Forgot

 

            It’s not surprising that she saw it. After all, Maeve is the eye in the sky who sees all, pretty much. What is surprising is that she forgot it. Passing strange!
            How it went down is this: As you know, the Silver River is the only jack card in the Great Forest’s deck. It flows through the middle of the G.F. with impunity and no special permission. So, anyhow, Maeve was cruising in the sky over the river one early evening just as the land was getting that golden look it gets as the sun is setting. The last of the light was picking out certain things glamorously like on some famous painting. Maeve was digging the scenery, when she noticed something unusual.
            Rolling downstream was a ball of light, maybe ten feet in diameter. It was an odd color somewhere between green and blue, kind of like that shiny spot on the gills of a certain kind of duck. It was about half submerged. It made no noticeable sound.
            Maeve dropped down to get a better look. In its center was a brighter area.
            She was just formulating the intention to go find Ralph and let him in on the story when she forgot all about it. She flew on.
            Once she was gone, this thing rolled over to the river bank near the granite boulder which, though chastened, still lay there. There, it lifted lightly a bit into the air and drifted over to the huge erratic boulder, where it kind of melted into the granite and vanished, leaving the pebbled river bank and the murmuring water as they were before.
            Sunset proceeded normally.
            Things changed after dark.
            Maeve tried to sleep in her stony nest high on the mountain above the Great Forest. Something kept tickling at her thoughts. She kept waking and looking out into the dark, worrying and wondering what she was missing.
            A baker’s dozen or so small versions of the big greenish light began coursing through the Home Clearing. The family who resided there were sleeping so they didn’t see these objects popping and snapping and seeming to be having difficulties, as if they weren’t meant to be there, but were anyhow and suffering for the impertinence.
            It was like a hunt of some kind. Not seeing their quarry in the Home Clearing they spread out. They had an easier time at the campground and the ranger station, but he they sought wasn’t there either.
            So, going back into the forest, they headed up past Ralph’s log and into the big meadow. They bounced and rolled and spat out greenish sparks as their direction became synchronized…
            Koba wasn’t sleeping well either. He woke suddenly. He was aware that his parents were asleep. Something was coming toward him.
            Without waking Twigg or Leely, Koba slipped outside to stand on the grass before the Alder Tree House and wait. As he stood there in the dark, he assumed his star form.
            A baker’s dozen or so of these small greenish lights hurried toward him where he stood before his home. As they came their true forms emerged. The seemed to be tiny glowing lace winged fairies. They gathered around Koba. One spoke.
            “Come home with us, Star Boy! This dirty place in no home for you! You should live among the stars!” It twinkled near his ear, speaking softly, soothingly.
            “No,” said Koba. “Liars!”
            Still speaking sweetly, the first winged imp said, “You would be given great honor among the heavenly lights! You will have glory and power!”
            “Liar!” said Koba. The fairy imp coughed and seemed to struggle to breathe.
            “Time is short, Star Boy! Come now!” it said. “There is a curse on this place and we will die soon unless you hurry now!”
            “I won’t,” said Koba.
            Just about at this impasse, Mak’s silver ship slid down out of the night sky. This time it had lights glowing all along its sides.
            “Oh, no…” said the coughing fairy.
            “What!” cried Leely as she opened the door of the Alder Tree House and stepped outside, trying to read what she was seeing. Twigg was right behind her.
            Mak emerged from his ship quickly holding an odd-looking device of some kind. He stepped over by Koba, and kind of vacuumed up the fairies with it. Coughing was still audible from inside the strange machine.
            “I’m sorry,” said Mak to Koba and his parents. “It was a kidnapping attempt. I’m proud of Koba. He knew a liar when he saw one!”
            “Who were they?” said still sleepy Twigg.
            “There are still some dark corners of the galaxy. The one who sent them hoped to gain power by possessing Koba. It was a stupid plan, really,” said Mak. “I’ll deal with them. Goodbye, and goodnight! I will visit soon, but not tonight.”
            He re-entered his ship and it slipped back up into the air and vanished.
            The whole scene looked normal again.
            Far up in the mountain, Maeve remembered what she had seen.
            “That thing must have done something to make me forget!” she said to herself. And, though it was dark, and ravens don’t generally fly in the dark, Maeve flew from her nest to find Ralph.
            When she got to the cave door, she rapped on it hard with her beak. Ralph came out in a moment. She told him about the big greenish round thing in the river, and how she had been made to forget to report it to him.
            “Not good, Birdie,” said Ralph. “This smells very bad. My heart tells me to go up to the Alder Tree House and see if all is well or not!”
            When Ralph is in a hurry, it doesn’t take him long to get up into the meadow. Maeve flew beside him. He and Maeve got there in a couple shakes of a goat’s whiskers.
            All was quiet at the Alder Tree House, but Ralph knocked anyhow and woke everybody up again. First Leely explained what she had seen, then Twigg did the same. Then Ralph put Koba on his knee and said, “Now you tell me what happened to you this night, Koba!”
            Koba told him about going outside because he knew something was coming, and seeing the lights coming across the meadow to him, and how they changed into sort of lacy fairies.
            “Then they told me to come home with them, and I said no,” said Koba.
            “After that Mak came in his ship and put them in a machine and took them back into the air with him! Grampa, they were liars. They said I would have honor and power among the stars. That’s a lie, isn’t it?”
            “Yes, that was a lie,” said Ralph.
            Then Maeve told them what she had seen, and how she forgot about it, and then remembered suddenly up in her nest while she was trying to sleep.
            “I’ll let you all go back to bed now. I have a bit of business to attend to. I don’t think you’ll see those naughty fairies again, Koba,” said Ralph. “Be at peace.”
            Ralph and Maeve walked back down through the meadow, into the woods, and into the Home Clearing. Ralph helped Maeve into the cave to tell Ramona everything, then he went on down to the river.
            In the darkness, under just a bit of dim light from the sky, he could hear the river sighing as it moved ever onward. He could sense the presence of the Mouth of the Mountain lying in the shadow of the great firs.
            In the morning, not a trace of the huge granite boulder remained. Only a smooth bed of river pebbles lay where she had been.

🍄‍🟫💮🍄‍🟫

Photo source.