I Did a Thing...

 As some of you may remember, about 11 and 1/2 months ago Barb L. set off with a goal to teach me how to ring a bell for treats.  You may also remember that she was not very successful initially.  And even when she claimed I was ringing the bell, it was really more like wishful thinking.   Those times when I "rang the bell" were the results of my paw slipping.  At first I was feeling stubborn.  No one can tell me what to do, I'm practically the boss around here.  So I decided to see how long it would take before Barb gave up.  

But despite my efforts to convince her that you can't teach a old cat new tricks, she kept at it.  11 and 1/2 months later, she was still getting the bell out and trying to get me to ring it.  Well, I decided that if Barb is going to keep at this forever, maybe I should go about it a different way.  So I chose to ring the bell.  Not like how she told me to, of course.  Barb wanted me to ring the bell with my paw, what she got is me ringing the bell with my nose.  

Ta-da! 

Maybe this isn't so bad...

I want to make it especially clear though, that I rang the bell because I wanted to, not because anyone told me I should.  After ringing the bell on my own terms, Barb was pretty ecstatic.  She began telling all the rest of the staff how I rang the bell with my nose.  I don't think Newbie Lillian believed her at first, until she put the bell out and watched me do it for herself.  

To be honest, I actually kind of like ringing the bell.  Because now I have one more way I can tell the staff when its time for a treat.  Well, at least I did, until they started keeping the bell in the drawer so I couldn't ring it whenever I wanted to.  That was a little miffing.  I didn't ring the bell for almost 12 months, and then when I do ring it, they put it away so I can only ring it when they want me to.  I guess that's just the way it goes.  Humans are very hard to make happy sometimes.  They want you to ring a bell, you ring the bell, and then they take the bell away.  I might never understand them.  

Still trying to figure out how to open the treat drawer,

Chance

Elections and Ghost Stories

 The kids have voted, the ballots have been carefully counted, and the winner for best pet has finally been announced.  Cats have victoriously claimed the title of Best Pet 2020!  It was a close race, with cats narrowly beating dogs by only 6 votes.  Based on this, I think it is safe to say that the public loves dogs almost as much as they love cats.  Almost.  Rabbits also made it onto the ballots with two write ins.  Personally, I love to watch the tasty rabbits hop around outside, so I can definitely see some good reasons for voting for rabbits.  

Well, besides voting happening at the library, we've had some unusual visitors over Halloween.  Namely a ghost, and a few other spooky creatures in the youth department.  Now, I definitely would not consider myself to be a scaredy cat.  I think I'm quite brave, actually.  But I think the library staff forgot that when they invited these guys to hang out in the lobby for the month of October that I would have to live with them.  Even in the dark.  I decided the best way to get along with these spooky roommates, who showed up without my invite, was to just ignore them and pretend to be brave.  

I ain't afraid of no ghosts! 

They left promptly after Halloween, but not before promising me they would be back to visit next October.  I didn't want to hurt their feelings, but if the library staff gave me a choice (which they probably won't), I might pass on the month long sleepover next year.  

Ghostbusting,

Chance