Stairway to heaven

Good ol' Adric used to be sort of like Tigger - you know, with a top half made out of rubber and a bottom half made out of springs. (And if you ask me, he is just as annoying as Tigger.)

But Adric is having trouble being springy these days. As a matter of fact he is under doctor's orders NOT to spring. The problem is Adric is a cat. And he is only happy when he is up on top of something. And in the winter, that means up on top of the hot water radiator.

Now in the summer when it is hot, all the cats mope around and throw themselves on the floor and spread out as thin as they can, looking aggrieved and moaning weakly because they are too warm. But in the winter all they want to do is toast themselves until they are piping hot! (Only fools try to figure cats out.)

Adric can't make it up to his favorite hot spot and so my Person decided to help him out by building him these great stairs and then covering them with comfy fleece. Now Adric can haul himself and his new bright green cast up to the cat roasting area and down again without doing himself another injury. The stairs are so sturdy I can walk on them too. Even though I have been told not to.

I wonder if my Person would build me some stairs for the places I have trouble getting to, like the cupboard where my food is, or the top of the refrigerator where my treats are? I'm not going to hold my breath - it seems to me that the things I want are frowned upon but whatever Adric wants, Adric gets.

Seeking warmth

There is this old saying that the January sun is a warming one, making the cold days of winter bearable. For in the far north, sunshine and extreme cold seem to be winter's favorite pairing. But it is hard to consider January sun a warming influence when it is below zero outside and the birds are puffed up like feather dusters and the snow sounds like styrofoam when you walk on it and the hairs on your chinny chin chin freeze into a frost beard while you root around on the ground for the interesting edibles that nature always provides for a keen-eyed and keen-nosed little red dog.

However, if you are in your Person's house and find a patch of January sun shining away, it is indeed warming. And here I will lie, warming myself and finding that I agree with that old saying so long as I am safely inside!

Poor kitty

My cat brother Adric has some nicknames - notably Badric. He earned this one by jumping on top of doors, shredding toilet paper rolls, turning on the hot water in the tub and then shutting himself in the bathroom creating a personal sauna and by assisting me when I scout for food (not a Person-approved activity) by tossing loaves of bread and other goodies to me from the counter top. He even threw me an entire bag of training treats from the top of the refrigerator. I ate them all and maybe that is why I am so well-trained.

Well, Adric has a new nickname and it is Sadric. He is the saddest sad sack of a cat ever. That isn't a holiday stocking he has donned. Poor Adric had to have surgery on his broken leg and now he's got this big old cast with a red wrapper to haul around and his very ample-looking thigh has been shaved. How embarrassing is that? And that other blob of shaved-ness is his even more ample belly.

That Adric sure doesn't have my trim sportsman's physique. But he doesn't go for daily runs by the river either. He sleeps and stretches and walks around like a princeling and sleeps some more. And that is on a busy day.

I feel badly for him even if he is getting the royal treatment - he has special beds all over the place and every time I try to nap on one my Person growls at me. And he gets extra food (look at that thigh, Person, and restrain yourself!), and he gets held whenever he wants and that is almost all the time. And he gets special medicine but I would rather have treats than that.

I am hoping for a nice romp outside today but there is a slick layer of ice on the ground. Even with four legs I am going to have to be careful out there. I may be a little red dog but I sure don't want to end up with a red leg like Adric!

Avoidance

I am using a technique my Person sometimes uses when she is doesn't want to deal with things. I am staying in bed. She calls it napping, and sometimes she holds a closed book in one hand and she calls it reading. But it all amounts to the same thing. Avoidance.

What am I avoiding? I am avoiding Miss Furry who is holding court in the living room, sleeping on my couch and every now and again bestirring herself to go outside to chase my squirrels.

There is a saying about house guests and fish...but I LIKE the smell of old fish and I know Tasha does as well. Dogs generally handle strange smells two ways: they whiz on the stinky thing or they rub it all over themselves. I prefer the former, and when it comes to rotten fish, Tasha prefers the latter. So I guess if the saying is true, I actually like having Tasha here, though I sure haven't whizzed on her. (She'd probably retaliate somehow, like rubbing herself all over me.) So, let's say we have a detente going on, and we've established some boundaries: Tasha rules where ever she is and I hide in the bedroom!

Brotherly love

Notice that this is not a picture of a certain red dog and a certain Tasha the Furry Interloper. This is poor Adric using poorer Pico as a pillow, and they are roasting themselves on top of the radiator. Adric looks pretty silly and his cast says "OUCH" (his vet is something of a wag) but my Person will not let me laugh at him. To his face anyway. What I do in private is my own business.

Speaking of which, I don't have much private business these days. Every where I look, there is Tasha. Every time I scrounge for crumbs, there is Tasha. Every time I go outside, there is Tasha. The only time I don't see Tasha is when I close my eyes and when I do that she stares at me!

Move over Adric and Pico - I think I'd like to join the cat pile for awhile!

Double trouble

This may look like I am trying to take a chunk out of someone but it is just me whispering sweet nothings into my best frenemy's ear. Winter Storm Tasha has hit and here she is now, stirring things up in MY backyard.

I think things are going pretty well so far, except my Person takes Tasha for private walks and Tasha gets special treats and Tasha follows my Person everywhere (I didn't know dogs were supposed to do that) and Tasha scares all the squirrels away from the yard (that is MY job) and she scares the birds away too (another thing I didn't know dogs were supposed to do) and she licks my Person's hands (maybe my Person isn't very careful about washing up after she eats, or that's a third thing I didn't know dogs were supposed to do) and she generally is trying to insinuate herself into the structure of our little family by being nice to my cat brothers (okay, that's a fourth thing I didn't know dogs were supposed to do).

I don't know whether I am being shown up or not but I think I'd better come up with some plans to outdo Tasha!

All quiet

Winter has settled in. The snow is deep and crunchy and there is a new layer of fresh snow on top - snow covered snow as it were. The birds and squirrels are furiously hungry, almost as hungry as I always am.

I caught a squirrel today, briefly. My Person screamed and jumped up and down (she exhibits classic primate behavior) until I dropped the squirrel and it ran away. I think it was an unfair match - the snow makes it harder for little animals to scarper. But I am all in favor of unfair matches, as long as things are in my favor.

I'm inside now and all is quiet. The calm between the storms, one might say. The snow storm is over and the next storm is yet to begin: Tasha, the Barking Hairdo of a Sheltie is coming to stay with me. For weeks!!

Talk about unfair matches. I am no match for this Little Miss and I think she knows it. Until she gets here I am going to enjoy the quiet life and prepare myself for Winter Storm Tasha!

A new year?

I don't really understand the human desire for the Big Do-Over. Periodically they think they deserve a new beginning. It seems to me that everything is a continuation. One can't really change what has happened before - we can merely go forward, and maybe even with good intentions.

If he knew about the concept, Adric probably would like a do-over for the moment he slipped his ankle into that drawer pull and then jumped. But Adric doesn't know about such ideas, and neither does his broken ankle and neither do little red dogs. Full steam ahead is what I say. (Or what I think even if I don't say so.)

Life is full of surprises (a concept Adric DOES understand) and I was surprised by some pretty deep snow and some pretty big snow people down along the river. They gaze out over the ice sheet with attention and quiet humor. They are only here for season at the longest and don't have time to regret. They merely ARE, right now, right here. And I like that about them. And I like that about me, too.

The calendar may say it is a new year, but since I can't read, I am protected from such frivolity. So don't count on do-overs and maybe-laters and what-ifs. Go look at the river and run and smile at your Best Friend. Forward, I say!