Well, the holidays are over. At least, that’s what Mom says. I’m not really sure exactly what a holiday is, but there is usually a lot of good food. Also, Mom doesn’t have to work on holidays, although she used to. I have never worked on holidays. Of course, I have never worked. At least not that I’m aware of. Anyway, now Dad has to work on holidays. Dad finally got a job! He was very depressed about not having one, although I can’t imagine even wanting one, but he’s human – what can you expect? He works at some place called Papa John’s and he has to work a lot at night, on weekends and on holidays. We would rather have him at home on those days.
I am told that Thanksgiving is the name of one holiday. It is probably my favorite of all of them, because we have turkey to eat. I love turkey. It is my favorite bird! I like chicken a lot, but turkey is even better. This year Mom saved the dark meat (neither she nor Dad like it) and cooked some other stuff, like livers and things, and mixed in the turkey’s dark meat. She froze most of it and we ate it for a long time. It is only just now running out, so Mom had to cook some more food yesterday. It smelled wonderful in here.
I like Christmas, too. Mom used to bring a tree into the house for Christmas. It was a little bit scary, though. She would hang things on it and it would be really sparkly. Cherokee and I used to lie down under it, on the white sheet she put there. I guess it was supposed to look like snow, but who likes snow? I sure don’t, it’s cold! Back in Massachusetts, Mom would let us out on the porch on cold, snowy days, and that stuff was just freezing. After a couple of minutes, we would run back into the house and try to get warm, and lick the water off our paws. Ugh! Snow! I haven’t seen any at this house, even though it is sometimes a little cold. One time, there were some little white balls piled up out on the patio. Mom called it hail. I didn’t like that, either. It was cold, too.
Anyway, the first year Dad was here, he and Mom had a tree in the house. Last year and this year, though, they decided not to, because Mom was just too tired to decorate it. Also, Mom said that trees are very expensive here. I kind of hope they have one again, because it smells nice and reminds me of the woods where I was born. Feline mother, where are you now? They did put up lights outside, but I didn’t see them. I just heard them talking about the lights. There were also things around the house, like little candle things on what Mom called a sleigh. Just before Mom put things away, Mina stole one of the little candle things. Even I don’t know where it is. Mom says that we will find it the next time we move.
Another reason I like Christmas is because Santa Claus brings things to us in our stocking. I have never seen him, but Mom says that he is fat and wears a red suit with white trim. He is supposed to come down the chimney, but we don’t have one. Dad says that she shouldn’t talk to us about Santa, because he thinks that it’s wrong to try to make us believe in Santa. Whatever! All I care about is what is left in our stocking. This year, we got two cans of sardines, two cans of tuna, and two pouches of treats. Um-m-m-m-m! Treats! Mina loves them, too, so we always have a little struggle when Dad opens up the pouch.
Mom and Dad stayed up until midnight on what they call New Year’s Eve. They watched some silly thing on TV where people were yelling and shouting and singing. Mom and Dad kissed each other and not long after, they went to bed. Mom cooked corned beef for New Year’s Day, but she wouldn’t give us any, saying that it wasn’t good for us - too much salt and seasoning. It smelled pretty good, though, and Dad did sneak us a couple of little bits of it.
Last week was another holiday, for Mom, anyway. She said that banks and government offices were closed, and some other places, too. I don’t know what all those places are, except that banks are where we get money from, but she didn’t have to work, so she was able to stay home with us again. It was Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. Mom was sorry that he hadn’t been born in March, so that the holidays could be spread out a little. Now there won’t be another holiday for a long time. It doesn’t really matter to me, since (as I mentioned before) I don’t work anyway. The main reason I like some holidays is because of the food.
Well, I’m a little tired and think I should take a nap before supper. It wouldn’t do to be too tired to eat!
Yours,
Apache
