The Humming...bird

“Cheese, is that your stomach?” Banana looked disgustedly at the other cat, who was lying on his back in the sun, as sprawled out as a creature can be. It was late summer, and the cats were on the porch, soaking up as much sun as they could. They knew autumn was coming, and then winter, when the nice warm sun would be hibernating (or so it felt).

“Huh?” Cheese looked confused. “I just ate 3 minutes ago, Banana. You might be hungry again, but I’m not.” Cheese rolled over and gave the other cat his full attention. “What are you talking about?”

Banana tilted her head and listened again. “What IS that noise? It’s getting louder. Now it sounds like a buzz bug [cicada], but not really. Do you hear it? Now it sounds like Twitch when she’s happy.” Banana jumped up on the window ledge, excited to see their friend. “Hey, Twitch! Where are you?”

But Twitch was nowhere in sight.

The sound was getting louder, and Banana was getting more curious by the moment. She ran around the porch, stopping lots to look out the screens. Cheese watched her while he stretched his body from one end to the other. She didn’t know it, but he was laughing at her…on the inside. He was a smart cat, and knew how angry she could get, and how much she weighed when she pounced on him...

He let her run and wonder a little bit longer, and then he couldn’t hold the laugh in anymore. He snorted, “You really don’t know where that noise is coming from? Ha! Look up!” He pointed with his paw at a red object, hanging on the outside of the porch on the rain-runs-down thing [gutter].

Banana stopped her running, and looked toward the red object. There was something hovering there in the air, but it was moving too fast for her to get a good look at it. For 5.84 seconds, it sat on the edge of the red thing, and she could see it was a…bird!

“Cheese! I see it! Let’s go get a closer ‘look’ at it!” Banana started to drool a little, because her idea of looking was to watch the bird fly into her mouth. She could almost taste it.

“Good luck, Banana. Those birds fly faster than all the other birds in our yard [25-30 mph actually]. That’s a hummingbird, Banana. It likes the sugar water that Gale and Karen put in that red thing. That sound is the noise its’ wings make when it flies—I sat here yesterday and watched it all day!”

“Hmmmm….” Banana considered this.

“No, humming…hummingbird.” Cheese explained. “But you know the real reason hummingbirds hum, don’t you, Banana?” Cheese put his paw over his mouth, trying to hold in a laugh.

“No, why?” Banana sat down, waiting for the explanation.

“Because they don’t know the WORDS!!!” Cheese rolled over and gave in to the laugh that exploded from inside of him. It felt good.

For more information about Hummingbirds:

http://www.hummingbirds.net/about.html

Spring

Watch Out Cheese! Spring cleaning is on the way!

We're Getting There!

Words have been put on paper, sketches have been made, ideas have been presented and discussed, and we're that much closer to the dream!

I'm not sure Banana and Cheese are as excited as we are; they're completely focused on the screen door and the backyard beyond. It's good to have a goal, no matter how small.

I Am Sad

I am sad now because a friend of mine has died, from a disease called cancer. [Parents--a very good book about death is The Tenth Good Thing About Barney by Judith Viorst].

I am sad because I will never see her again. I will miss having lunch with her, inviting her to my house, and I will miss sending e-mails to her. I will miss her smile--she especially smiled when she was around children and cats, because she loved both.

She was a very good person; she was always doing things for other people. She did not say mean things about others. She was always willing to help me and to help others. She made me feel good about myself. I will miss her very much, and I know lots of other people will miss her, because she made them feel good too.

Because I am sad, I am crying. Not all the time, but alot. It's OK to cry when someone dies. It's also OK to smile and even laugh, because sometimes you remember silly things that other person did. What's not OK is to laugh when someone else is crying--that's a very hurtful thing to do.

When I cry because I miss my friend, Karen gives me a hug. That makes me feel better. Even when I am not crying, other people give me hugs and tell me they are sorry, because they know I miss my friend. And, when I see my other friends crying, I hug them too, because I am sorry they are feeling sad.

It also helps me to talk--to talk about how I am feeling, and to talk about my friend who has died. I especially like to tell stories about the fun things my friend and I did together. Sometimes telling those stories even makes me smile, even if I'm still crying a little.

Tomorrow will be a hard day, because there will be a Memorial Service for my friend. All of her family and friends will be there, and we will say good-bye to a very special person. We will cry, we will smile a little, we might laugh together, and we will hug each other. But most of all, we will remember all the good things about my friend.

And there were a lot of good things.

Later this spring, Karen, Banana, Cheese, and I will plant a magnolia tree, as a way to remember my friend. That will be a good thing to do, because every time we look at that tree, we will remember our friend. And, when it blooms every Spring, we will be reminded of that beautiful person who is not here any more.

Gale Charlotte Website

OK, the time has come to unveil the news! Gale is writing a children's book about Banana and Cheese!

Go to Gale's new website and read all about it!: www.galecharlotte.com

Look for the special link to some of our kitty friends.

Banana and Cheese wanna-be!

We taught her everything she knows! B&C

http://www.annarbor.com/pets/dusty-the-criminal-klepto-kitty-steals-neighborhood-belongings-and-brings-them-home/

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentines Day to all of our Lovely Fur Friends!

Yes, We're Still Here!

Yes, we're OK--we haven't frozen solid. We haven't been buried in snow. Banana and Cheese are not hibernating!
Banana is eating, sleeping, and eating some more. Cheese is eating, cleaning himself, and sleeping, then taking a nap after that--you know, the usual stuff.
But Gale and CD? They are very, very busy....on things that we can't tell you about just yet.
So, stay tuned.
And Twitch---get that mess cleaned up!

Lazy Twitch

“Twitch! Get to work! Clean up this mess!” Banana roared. “We need this space for our next adventure!”

“Yeah, Twitch,” Cheese agreed. “You’ve been rolling around in these holiday bits for far too long. Every day, Karen and Gale look out here and say, ‘Same old stuff. You would think the cats would have done something more exciting by now.’”

“Ok,” yawned Twitch. “I’m going, but your next adventure had better be worth it.”

“Oh, it will be,” purred Banana and Cheese…..