slip slidin' away

As you may or may not have heard, Peep #1 caught a bug.  Not a spider or anythin' like that.  It's winter.  It's far too cold for spiders to be out and about in Canada at this time of year.  Plus, Peep #1 isn't really into the spiders so catchin' one would not be on the top of her to-do list. She says they're icky and I sort of have to agree.

But the peep did catch a bug. At first, I thought she had caught one of those flu bugs on account of her feverish and delusional behaviour but it turned out to be somethin' else.  It turned out to be a hybrid spring-cabin fever bug.  No known cure.  We have to let it run its course.  MOUSES!

So early Monday mornin', the peep was still in her delusional state brought on by this spring-cabin fever thingy, behaving like a maniac, when everythin' hit the fan.  Well...  to tell you the truth, there were no actual fans involved.  There were things hittin' things, however.  Let me explain...

Even though the garden was covered in snow, the peep was still feverishly plantin' seeds and whatnot, behavin' like it was spring.  Due to the spring component of her illness, she was completely oblivious to the fact that it was still winter.  Due to the cabin component of this fever, she decided to head outside.

Now over the weekend, the low temperatures - did I mention it was still winter? - had frozen everythin' solid.  Our driveway was a sheet of ice.  I was searchin' for those cat-sized ice skates I ordered last year when I heard the peep headin' out the door.  I called out to her to be careful of the ice but apparently, this spring-cabin fever thingy had affected her hearin'.  She didn't listen to me at all.

I took a break from searchin' for my skates to hop up onto the window ledge and watch the show.  It promised to be a good one....  Peep TV.

Peep #1 was out the door and headin' toward the garage in search of more plant pots.  She was off like a bolt of lightening 'cause the temperatures were climbin' and it had started to rain.  She didn't want to get wet or anythin'.  One never knows when rain might cause the unexpected meltin' of peeps.  Meltin' peeps is a messy business and should be avoided at all cost.

And I just want to clarify that the peep was like lightenin'.  Even though it had started to rain, there was no actual lightenin' in the sky.  Just clouds, rain and some wind.  Hmm...  clouds rain and lots and lots of wind, to be exact.

So the peep headed across the ice-covered driveway that was gettin' slicker and slicker by the minute due to the fallin' - and quite possibly, peep meltin' - rain when all of a sudden, Peep TV started to get really interesting.  Even though the peep's legs had stopped walkin', they were still movin'.  They were slippin'.  They were slidin'.  They were slip, slip,  slidin' away.  Pickin' up speed, Peep #1 was movin' faster and faster and then, before my very eyes, the peep took flight!  SHE WAS AIRBORNE.  She soared through the air, right across the icy driveway and landed with a thump.

You know, Peep TV never disappoints.  It's right up there with Bird TV and the Squirrel Channel.

Anywho...  Remember how I said stuff hit stuff?  Well the stuff doin' the hittin' was the peep and what was bein' hit was the ground.  Peep #1 did an Olympic-worthy, four-point landin' right there in front of the garage.  Two knees, left-front paw and her chin.  All four points smacked the ice, simultaneously.  The excitement was almost unbearable.  MOUSES!

Strugglin' to her paws...  feet...  whatever, Peep #1 stumbled into the garage to dig out the flower pots. Never let it be said that my peep is easily distracted.

Returning inside, flower pots in paw, the peep looked at me and mentioned something 'bout it bein' icy outdoors.  Somethin' about her flyin' across the driveway.  I told her I hadn't noticed so that she wouldn't feel too embarrassed 'bout the dirt on her chin.

But speakin' of flyin' stuff, did you hear 'bout those marmie brothers of mine?

The other day, Seville, Rushton and Anderson were hangin' out together, on the little landin' outside the kitchen window.  Now I should explain that my marmie brothers never hang out together for the sake of camaraderie.  Nope, nothin' comaraderous 'bout them hangin' out at all.  One moment they were all sittin' there, starin' at each other and then the next moment, fur started to fly.  There was marmie fur everywhere.  Then came the yowlin' and the howlin'.  Once Peep #1 shut up, my brothers started to growl.

Let me tell you, those marmie brothers of mine have tude.

But marmies aren't the only ones with tude.  Squirrels have tude, too.  You should see 'em, struttin' about, dancin' and prancin' around on my driveway.  They're actin' like they own the joint or somethin'.

And did you hear 'bout today bein' Squirrel Appreciation Day?  That's right, they have their own day. MOUSES!  Hmm...  I wonder if mice have one too?

Anywho...  Accordin' to a reliable source, today is the day for appreciating squirrels.  The same source has revealed that it's also a day to celebrate hugs and granola bars.  I guess it's a day to hug the neighbourhood squirrels and share a granola bar with 'em.

Nah...  doin' somethin' like that would be crazy, for sure.  Crazier than a squirrel makin' nut pies kind of crazy, if you know what I mean.  Granola bars?   I don't eat granola bars.  I, Nerissa the Cat, have never eaten a granola bar in my life because I am a cat and we cats don't like things like that.

And I never did find those ice skates of mine.  Where-oh-where did I put 'em? Gotta find 'em before winter is over and there isn't any ice left for skatin'.  I wonder if the peep hid 'em somewhere. I wonder...  Oh Peepers...  OH PEEPERS...  Have you seen those ice skates of mine?  Did you hide 'em somewhere?  You're not answerin' me?  Awww...  MOUSES!

copy that

Copy that, copycat.

You ever watch those shows on television where the police listen to someone on their radio and in response they say, "copy that."  There was a show filmed in Toronto that used to do that all the time.  I guess it's a thing that the police do or somethin'.

Even though they say, copy that, I don`t think it`s about copying at all.  I don't think anyone is copyin' anythin' and I don't think there are any photocopiers involved.  I think it's more about recognising that the other person was heard.  Like when a stage manager in a theatre expects the actors to say thank you after he or she tells 'em somethin'.  It's not about bein' polite.  He just needs to know he was heard. Of course, there's nothin' wrong with bein' polite.  Nothin' wrong with that, at all.

And I don't think that when the police in those television shows say, copy that, it has anythin' to do with manners although imitation is a form of flattery and copyin' is like imitatin' and flattery is... well...  nice but since no one is actually copyin' anyone else, it can't really be 'bout that.

MOUSES!  This copyin' stuff sure can be confusin'.

Copy that.

And why-oh-why do peeps talk about copycats?  Copy cats?  What is it about cats that peeps connect with copyin'?  I, Nerissa the Cat, am a cat and I don't copy anythin'.  I don't even own a photocopier.  MOUSES!

Okay, I admit it.  Some cats do copy stuff.  A couple of years ago, one of us cats started climbin' up onto the car.  Prior to that, none of us had ever done that before.  To be honest, I'm not even sure which one of us it was who started it all.  I'm thinkin' that maybe it wasn't even a cat livin' in my house.  I'm thinkin' that maybe it was Carson, the cat who came back.  Yeah, I'm thinkin' he was the one who started climbin' up there on top of the car.

Anywho...  Although none of us had ever shown any interest in usin' the car as a lookout before, after the one - who may very well have been Carson - started goin' up there, we all did the same. Seein' a cat up there gave us ideas.  So I guess we are capable of bein' copycats.

Eventually, even I was goin' up on the car.  Gettin' up wasn't so hard but gettin' down was a totally different story.  It's not all that high and yes, we could jump down from the side but for some reason, we all liked to climb down the windshield.

You know what happens when you try to climb down a windshield?  Ever heard that song called Slip, Slidin' Away?  Well let's just say that that song could have been written 'bout me, slippin' and slidin' down the windshield of our car.  MOUSES!

And one must always be careful that one does not bump one's nose on the hood of the car after slidin' down its windshield.  Again I must say...  MOUSES!

I never go up on the car any more.  In fact, I don't even remember the last time I did that.  Seville still likes hoppin' up there, though, and he has the bumps on his nose to prove it.

Personally, I think dogs are far more inclined to copy stuff than cats and yet, one never hears 'bout copydogs, do they?  Weird.

Quite often a dog in the neighbourhood will start barkin' and the next thing you know, ALL the dogs in the neighbourhood start barkin'.  It's like they can't help themselves or somethin'.  You ever been witness to that?

Did you know that some dogs are such copycats that they'll even copy a peep?  Yup, it's true.  As a little experiment, my first peep once barked like a dog out the back door.  You know what happened?  The dogs livin' in a house on the next street all started barkin' back.  Sometimes I wonder 'bout my peep.

Peeps are great at copying, too.  You see one peep walkin' their dog down the street without their dog wearin' a leash and the next thing you know, you see all sorts of peeps walkin' their dogs down the street without their dogs wearin' leashes.  The dogs are runnin' about all over the place, totally out of control and barkin' up a storm.  Then the peeps start barkin' at the dogs only they're not actually barkin' but rather, barkin' orders for the dogs to come back to 'em and stop barkin'.  Between the barkin' dogs and the yellin' peeps it's awfully hard for a kitty like me to get his work done.  Even harder to take a nap, if you know what I mean.

Just the other day, I was workin' on my blog when I saw a golden coloured dog running about out on the street, in front of my house.  Next thing I knew, there were two more dogs runnin' about out there and the three of 'em started barkin'.  Eventually, two peeps appeared and the male peep was barkin' orders at the barkin' dogs.

Not wantin' to be left out of the mayhem, I had my paw poised to set off the car alarm if any of those dogs actually came into my yard.  Luckily for them, they didn't but I missed out on all the fun. MOUSES!

It's too bad that these copycat peeps couldn't learn to copy the law-abidin' peeps who have their dogs on leashes when they're out and about on the street.  Wonder why they all wanna copy the ones breakin' the leash laws and not the ones obeyin' them.  I should investigate this phenomenon further.   Might make an interestin' blog post or somethin'.

And seriously, would it not be easier to put a leash on your dog than to be yellin' at him to come back when he gets out of control and is runnin' out and about on the street?  Or, as they say in some parts, oot and aboot?  MOUSES!

I'm thinkin' that copycat peeps should consider stuff like that.

And speakin' of copying peeps, let me tell you what happened yesterday.

Here in my part of Nova Scotia, we have garbage collection once every two weeks.  This year, our normal garbage day fell on Christmas so we had to have an alternate date.  No one should be expected to work on Christmas Day except, of course, for Santa and his reindeer but they don't seem to mind doin' that 'cause it's sort of their thing.  Kind of their day, if you know what I mean.

Anywho...  Our day was switched to the Saturday before Christmas.  Boxin' Day pick-ups were switched to the Saturday after Christmas and New Year's Day pick-ups were scheduled for the Saturday after that which was yesterday.  This was all explained in the calendar the waste management peeps sent out at the beginning of last year.

Two Saturdays ago, our garbage was picked up.  We were the only ones on my street who had any out.  Last Saturday, a number of peeps put out garbage even though there was no pick-up for our neighbourhood that day.  And yesterday, four of the seven houses on my street had garbage out, plus a house at the end of the next street that can be seen from the end of my driveway.  And it wasn't just my street, either.  Peep #1 had to run to the store and on her way back, she counted twenty-five houses with their garbage out.  Twenty-five of 'em!  Of course, since yesterday wasn't our day, all that garbage is still sittin' out there, today.

Now here's the copyin' part...  On Friday night, only one house on my street had garbage out.  By Saturday mornin', all those other houses had put stuff out, too.  Clearly, they were copyin' the first house.  Too bad they were copyin' peeps who had the wrong date.

You know, I think there's a lesson to be learned 'bout all of this copyin' stuff.  If you're gonna copy, copy the right answer and not the wrong.  Copyin' the wrong answers can lead to nothin' but trouble I think.

And speakin' of copyin' answers, I've heard of peeps copyin' other peeps on tests in school but I've NEVER heard of a cat doin' such a dastardly deed.  It seems to me that peeps do an awful of copyin'.  So why don't they say copypeep?  Why do peeps insist on sayin' copycat?  WHY?

Do peeps secretly wanna be cats?

Hmmm....  Maybe they do.  Maybe they wanna copy more than just what we do.  Maybe they wanna copy what we are, too.

Copy that, copycat.  Hehehehee....