Cat in Hat with Scarf

Buddy:  I wish you would dress more appropriately in public, Marcus.

Marcus:  I'm always well-dressed, one leash for my collar and one leash for my harness. 

Buddy:  Have you noticed one of those leashes is torn and ugly?


Marcus:  Torn and ugly are my trademarks.  I have razor sharp teeth!

Micah:  Can you argue that later?  I want to hear about your second walk Wednesday.  I heard it was more interesting than the morning one when Merci was with you. 

Marcus:  Why did Jan take this picture?

Buddy:  I think she was trying to get you, me and the yellow pipe in the same shot, but you were too busy trying to catch flying bugs to stand still.

Micah:  Why did she want the yellow pipe in the shots she took of you two?

Marcus:  Because a young woman walking ahead of us suddenly stopped.  Then she peered down a yellow pipe with the help of her cell phone light.

Buddy:  As we were walking by, she said, "There's a baby bird stuck in here, about a third of the way down the pipe.  It was making noise or I would never have known it was here."

Micah:  So did you rescue it?

Buddy:  Actually, it was not a baby bird stuck in the pipe, but a family of tiny baby birds nesting in the pipe.

Marcus:  The pipe has a "handle" across the top with only a small opening on either side, so Jan had a hard time holding onto our leashes and aiming the camera through the small opening to illuminate the opposite side of the inner pipe with the flash.  This is a terrible picture but that is part of the nest with the babies between the yellow and the black.

Micah:  Oh, I see it.  The nest looks sort of like a cat face with eyes and a nose peering out between a black knit hat and a yellow scarf.

Buddy:  Seriously, Micah?  When is the last time you actually saw a cat dressed for winter?

Marcus:  Forget the cat in the hat with a scarf.  Let's get back to the story.  I could reach the top of the pipe with my nose if I stood on tippy toe paws.  From there I could smell the birds but Jan wouldn't pick me up so I could look down the pipe to see them.

Micah:  I wonder what kind of birds they are. Do you suppose they could be hummingbirds?  Hummingbirds here are the size of a bumblebee.

Buddy:  I wonder how many times we have walked by the nest and not known they exist?

Marcus:  I knew they were there.  I just didn't tell anyone.

Micah:  Uh-huh.  Are you aware your ears will grow if you lie?

Marcus:  They will not!

Buddy:  If you say so, but they sure do look a little taller from this angle.

Update:  Oh, dear, this has been such a busy week, we thought today is Wednesday.  We just wrote our Thankful Thursday post for tomorrow and then realized it IS Thursday.  So we're going to celebrate twice this week with a two-part post.  

Join Pepi Smart Dog and friends for the Thankful Thursday blog hop.  

Energetic Excitement

Cyndi:  Hey, look at that dog riding in the wagon. 

Merci:  That's Moses and his human Stanley.  Moses rides around town in style in the wagon or in a back pack.  Sometimes he gets down and walks so he can explore.

Cyndi:  Moses is one lucky dog!  Stanley obviously loves Moses more than Jan loves us.

Merci:  What makes you say that?

Cyndi:  Look at him pedaling away as Moses directs where to go.  We cats don't go outside but you dogs walk Jan every day.  When is the last time you guys rode in such style while exercising Jan?

Merci:  Moses rides because they are going somewhere that's too far for him to walk.  We walk Jan so she won't be a couch potato. 

Cyndi:  I can picture you guys now riding in a wagon.  Jan is huffing and puffing up the hill.  Marcus is leaping around screeching with energetic excitement -

Merci:  Yes, he is.  I can picture it now too.  In fact, Marcus has so much energy, Jan pushes us out of the cart, climbs in, snaps our leashes, and yells, "Mush!"

Cyndi:  Mush?  Didn't she eat breakfast before she left the house?

Merci:  You know none of us eat until after our first walk of the day.

Cyndi:  Well, if you guys are going to become wagon dogs, you had better start eating first.

Merci:  I have a better idea.  How about if we forget the wagon and make Jan continue to hoof it down the road with us?

Cyndi:  Okay, but don't come home again and tell us how much you envy Moses.

Merci:  I don't envy Moses.  I envy Stanley.  He isn't being herded down the road by Marcus. 

Empty Box Bureau

Taylor: Hey, where did everybody go?

Rusty:  They're all watching Jan tearing the house apart.

Taylor:  But where will we live if she tears the house up?

Rusty:  It's an expression.  It means she makes an unbelievable mess through the whole house as she digs and discards and weeds out things she doesn't use.

Taylor:  Digs and weeds?  Is she planting grass in here too?

Rusty:  No.  Look, remember Sunday she decided to get out her summer clothes and put away her winter ones?

Taylor:  Yes, she moved things off the cedar chest on Sunday and hasn't even opened it yet to begin the transfer.  The house is in chaos.

Rusty:  That's how Jan digs and weeds her way through what should be a simple project.  Move A, wash B, bag C to give away, empty box and toss in trash, and -

Taylor:  Trash an empty box?  We're cats.  Isn't there a law against trashing boxes?

Rusty:   Yes, the EBB - I'm sorry, the Empty Box Bureau could fine her if we file a complaint, but we never do because if Jan pays the fine, she can't afford to feed us.  So we suffer in silence with a full tummy.

Taylor:  Oh, I didn't realize I'm suffering.

Rusty:  Don't worry.  You'll get used to it. Meanwhile, I'd advise you to follow my lead and avoid Jan until her she collapses from this chaotic streak.

Taylor:  Thanks, Rusty.  I guess I'll pass some time watching funny videos.

Rusty:  I have just the one for you.  Let's watch this doxie try to take a carrot through a doggy door.


If the video doesn't play, click here.

Who Called Whom?

Micah:  Hey, Cyndi, where are you going in such a hurry?

Cyndi:  It just occurred to me who placed that strange phone call Saturday morning.  I have to tell Jan.

Marcus:  Jan already knows who called her.

Cyndi:  No, she doesn't.  She just knows whom she spoke to.

Micah:  That doesn't make any sense.

Cyndi:  Yes, it does.

Micah:  I wasn't in the living room at the time.  What happened?

Marcus:  Jan was putting on her shoes and socks so we dogs could walk her.  The phone rang.  Jan stuck one foot half in the second shoe and clomped across the room to answer.  She recognized the name in Caller ID as J from the local Toastmasters Club.  She had called him Wednesday morning about the coming meeting.

Micah:  I remember that.  He wasn't home at the time.  His wife C answered the phone and recognized Jan's voice but couldn't place it.  They talked for several minutes before Jan realized she had not identified herself. 

Cyndi:  Jan called him again Friday evening regarding future club business.  Then early Saturday morning there was a strange phone call.

Jan:  Hello.

Female voice:  Hello.

Silence.

Female voice:  Who is this?

Jan:  Who are you?

More silence.

Jan:  C?

C:  Jan?

Jan :  When you called I thought you were teasing me about what happened Wednesday.

C:  I didn't call you.

Jan:  I didn't call you either.

Micah:  So if C didn't call Jan and Jan didn't call C, who called the two of them at the same time?

Cyndi:  That's easy.  It was Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Marcus:   Then he must be the one who knocked over Jan's coffee cup.

Micah:  No, Marcus, that was you.