Author: Mr. Bo

Well who knew that Those Two could stay mad at me for so long. I’m still patiently waiting for that squirrel to come back on the television.

But maybe it’s not to be. And as further evidence that I’m still in the dog house, at least symbolically, they put a blanket with dogs in the box where I sleep!

Don’t they know that cats and dogs don’t get along? Well, he is kind of soft and cuddly. Maybe we could compromise, and they could find me a squirrel blanket?

Back to my new toy. After my introduction to Cat TV, Mama G discovered that there were games for cats available in the Play Store. She installed one of them, which featured a psychedelic mouse running around on the screen. Every time I touched it, it made kind of a zapping noise and registered a “hit.” I managed to get 191 hits in the first couple of minutes! I think I’d be a great mouser, if only we had mice.

But I got bored with that game pretty quickly, because there was only so far that poor little mouse could run. Mama G then decided to ramp things up a bit and put Cat TV on the big screen. Boy, was she soon sorry!

Mama C couldn’t believe how quickly I sprung into action when I spotted that pesky squirrel again. I figured if he could make the leap from the tablet to the big screen, so could I!

Mama G was appalled by my behavior and quickly shut off my program. Needless to say, I think my viewing privileges have been suspended for a while.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m one very spoiled cat. I suppose that’s true of most cats who have been fortunate enough to find loving homes. But how many of them have their very own tablet? Yes, you read that right!

It all started when one of Mama G’s friends mentioned that she had found something called “Cat TV” on YouTube. I’ve been a little out of sorts lately — I’m not even sure why — and Those Two have been desperately trying to cheer me up. So one day, when I was napping, Mama G decided to introduce me to Cat TV.

I was hooked from the start! I’m not an outdoor guy, so I’ve only been able to watch our backyard wildlife from afar. Suddenly, it was up close and personal, and I could sink my claws into those birds and squirrels! The hunt was on!

I ended up watching for quite a while that first morning.

Some of the programming is quite long, up to 10 hours. I don’t think my tablet has that kind of battery life, and besides, Mama G ended up shutting it off after a while. She was worried about my screen time, which is a common concern of parents, I hear. There’s more to this story, of course, but I’ll save that for another day.

This is one of those a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words kind of posts.

I just love a good snow day, when you can sleep in, and then do nothing all day. Oh wait, that pretty much describes every day of my life, minus the snow!

Before I get on my soapbox here, I just want to acknowledge that I understand how easy it is to slide back into bad behaviors. Just ask my mamas how successful they’ve been in keeping me off the dining room table, or my face out of their water glasses. But at least my obstinance has no tragic consequences, unless you count me getting yelled at.

I hear that more and more Americans are starting to behave as though this pandemic thing is over, or never existed, even though people are still getting sick and hospitalized in great numbers. This concerns me, because if anything were to happen to Those Two, who would feed me?

So even if you’re not particularly concerned about yourself, please, please, for the sake of others around you, and for me, mask up people!!!

I know it’s been a tough couple of weeks for many of my human friends, with all the snow, ice and frigid temperatures that have descended on us. And I’m sure some of them are a little stir-crazy right now. So I’m offering up some tips on how to cope with the dreaded season known as winter.

First, don’t go outside! This is an obvious one, but sometimes the obvious is easily overlooked. There’s no time like winter to catch up on things that were put off when the beach, golf course or hiking trails beckoned. I used this past weekend, for instance, to do a little paperwork, followed, of course, by shredding.

Then I did some yoga.

Now yoga is a great activity year-round, but I find it especially useful in winter, when I need to keep limber for one of my favorite activities — hunting! After all, you need to be flexible and nimble in order to hunt stealthily and not give your prey a heads-up, so to speak, that you’re on the way.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Stay warm, and happy hunting!

Whoo, what a holiday it was!!! I’m going to need a long time to recover from that one!

Christmas started off much like any other day when Those Two are both home. But then I knew something was up when Mama C ordered Mama G out of the kitchen and started preparing a giant bird. Mama G likes to keep things simple, and had suggested they just order takeout Thai food, but Mama C insisted on a proper, Norman Rockwell-type Christmas, and went to work. As sometimes happens when Mama C takes to the kitchen, things didn’t start off so well.

But as is always the case when she cooks, it ended very well. Several hours later, the bird was done and the meal was served.

Mama G raved about it, much to the delight of Mama C. I even got some of the leftovers, and I agree it was one of the most delicious turkeys ever, not that I’ve had fresh-cooked turkey before.

Mama G baked an apple pie for dessert, and all was going quite well — until it was time for the family photo shoot. I didn’t really appreciate being stuffed into a tight-fitting leopard-print pajama top, but as always, I was a pretty good sport about their shenanigans. Mama C liked the final image so much that she sent it out to pretty much everyone on her contact list. In case you missed the family photo in the previous post, here it is again …

And then, of course, there was the train, the one that Mama G ostensibly bought for “us.” Mama G eventually got enough additional track to allow the train to travel around the tree, although its route wasn’t quite circular. But then Mama G has always been an asymmetrical, do-it-her-own-way kind of person, so she didn’t care.

I must have spent hours at that track, mostly waiting for the $&*# train! I thought trains were supposed to adhere to a pretty strict schedule, but not this one. I waited and waited, and then occasionally I would hear the little engine and see the headlight coming around the bend, and I’d spring into action — sort of. Quite frankly, it all became a bit boring after a while. If you’d like to watch a video of me playing with the train, click here. Mama G didn’t pay extra for the version of WordPress that would have allowed me to embed the video in this post, so you’ll have to view it on YouTube.

So that pretty much sums up all the action. By the end of the day, I wasn’t just half in the bag, I was wholly in the bag!

I hope your holiday was every bit as joyous!

Best wishes for a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year, from Those Two and Yours Truly!

Friday turned out to be the big day when the surprise Christmas gift arrived. I was so excited to see that box on the front steps!

I still couldn’t imagine what it might be, especially because the box was on the big side, but fortunately I didn’t have to wait until Christmas to find out. Mama G gave me permission to open it immediately, though of course her permission was irrelevant, since we cats pretty much do as we please. So I dug right in!

I didn’t quite know what to make of it all as Mama G helped me unwrap the various pieces, but as things took shape, I realized it was a miniature train set! I kind of suspected at that point that the gift was really more for Mama G than me, but it’s the thought that counts. Mama G has always loved trains, but ever since she crossed off one of her bucket-list items in September and rode Amtrak’s Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle in a sleeper car, she just can’t get enough of them! She’s even booked a longer train trip next month, from Chicago to San Francisco. Mama C, on the other hand, considers riding long distances on a train, even with your own bedroom, more of an ordeal than an adventure, so she just wishes Mama G well and bids her bon voyage!

Once Mama G started laying down the track, she had one of those “D’oh!” moments that so many adults have at Christmastime while trying to assemble things for their children. She soon realized that there was not enough track to go all the way around the tree, which is where holiday train sets traditionally go. She was momentarily crestfallen, as if she had just learned that the federal subsidy for her railroad had ended. But she’s pretty resilient, so she set it up next to the tree, and promptly ordered more track on Amazon (that driver and I will soon be on a first-name basis!).

Soon everything was set up and it was time for the inaugural journey. I admit, I was a bit scared when the train first started up, because I just wasn’t sure what that thing was capable of. Mama G ran it slowly, she ran it fast, she backed it up and even deftly coupled a couple of cars that had become detached. It has a little headlight that casts an eerie glow as it goes round and round. Finally, I had had enough, and came to the conclusion that any self-respecting cat would: this baby needs to be derailed, and now!

Mama G gently scolded me, and gingerly put the little engine back on the track. She loves that train! I’ve pretty much made my peace with it, and even enjoy curiously watching it as it makes its pointless, endless journey.

Mama C, however, is concerned that Mama G is going to become one of those people, a train hobbyist who sets up track throughout the house and builds miniature villages. And Mama G did make mention of adding “just a few” village pieces. But don’t worry, Mama C, I’ve got your back! I promise to be one of those anti-development, “not-in-my-backyard” kind of residents.