Learning the rules - excerpt from A Surprise Gift, Sparky's story

 

Chapter 7

Learning the rules

“Buen diá Princesa Chica. ¿Cómo está?” I said, “Good day Princess Chica. How are you?”

“¿Estoy bien, gracias, y tú?” Chica answered me in cat-Spanish and I understood. She had said she was doing well, thank you, and then asked how I was.

I was so pleased I couldn’t stop my tail from doing its helicopter-spin of happiness. “I’m very well thank you,” I replied, then I noticed she was sitting beside a little tree that was covered in cute decorations.

“Oh, that’s a good idea, an indoor bathroom for pets,” I said. “But why is it sitting on a table? It should be on the floor.”

“No!” Chica quickly said. “This is our Christmas tree, un árbol de Navidad. Our humans would be upset if you peed on it.”

“Really?” I put my front paws on the low wooden table and gave the tree a sniff. It didn’t smell anything like a real tree. “What’s a Christmas tree?” I asked.

“It is part of the decorations our humans display at this time of the year.”

“So, Servant and Driver are also Decorators? Do we call them Decorator One and Decorator Two?” The rules of my new home were very puzzling. And why shouldn’t I pee on the tree? That’s what trees were for.

“No,” Chica answered, “she’s always Servant and he’s always Driver. Tommy says we don’t want to confuse them.”

“Si, now I remember. He told me that humans are difficult to train.” I agreed.

“Si, very difficult,” she agreed. “Tommy is very smart, and you should always listen to his advice.”

“I will,” I said, carefully studying the fancy tree. I still didn’t understand why I couldn’t use it for my indoor bathroom.

“We are extra lucky because we were born in Mexico and there are many winter celebrations, not just Christmas,” Chica said. “The holiday season starts with December 12th, Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe- Virgin of Guadalupe Day. Then, December 16^th to the 24^th is the Posadas, the procession recreating the journey of Mary and Joseph, and December 24^th, Nochebuena or Christmas Eve is when Mexican families have their special feasts. Our people and many of their friends are called Gringos and they have their feast on December 25^th.”

“Is that when the people create loud noises?  Lots of booms and bangs?”

“Yes, fireworks scare me,” Chica answered.

“I usually just hide under something and try to sleep,” I said.

“Me too!” Chica said. “The best part of the holiday season is that our people like to invite their friends and some of their cat-friendly dogs to a party at our house. They laugh, play music, sing, and eat lots of yummy foods.”

“I don’t think my first human had a lot of money. We never had a party,” I said, wistfully. “Parties sound like a lot of fun.”

“Si,” she agreed, “and our humans also go to our friends’ houses to celebrate.”

“Do you get invited too?” I asked.

“Tommy and I are invited to the parties that are close by,” she said, “We follow Servant and Driver along the beach.”

“What else do you do to celebrate?” I asked.

“My goodness you ask a lot of silly questions!” Chica flicked her tail and glared at me.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t understand everything about my new life yet.” I said, “please be patient with me.”

She sighed, “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry. We were all strays at one time.” She licked one paw and cleaned her whiskers.

I was fascinated. She knew how to self-clean just like Tommy. Maybe she could teach me, but not right now, because she was still talking about the holidays.

“And there are parades with funny costumes,” she said, “and music, and people tossing candy for the children and their parents. Many people go to a building called a church and sing nice songs,” she added. “It’s a very busy time on the island, but we enjoy the excitement. My favorite day is Christmas Day. We get presents in the morning, then we eat turkey and sweet potatoes at dinner time.”

“Turkey? What’s that?” I asked.

“Turkey is awesome! It’s a huge bird that is roasted for hours and then we feast on it. Servant, Driver, Tommy, me, and of course you this year. We eat and eat, and then fall asleep.” Just thinking about the upcoming feast made Chica feel sleepy. She stretched and yawned, “the celebrations continue until January 6^th Día de Reyes, when the Mexican children receive their presents from the three kings.”

“Presents? What are presents?”

“Presents are my favorite,” she replied with a sly grin. “You’ll see.”

Oh no, I really don’t like it when a cat gives me a sneaky smile. I am pretty sure it means something bad for me, like another visit to the cat-doctor.

Maybe I should just hide outside in the bushes on Christmas day.

 To be continued ...

Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings

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Woof, woof, Sparky

Chasing the 'funnies' on a Sunday afternoon

I grew up with an abundance of reading material .... what about you? 

My best memories of reading goes back to when my three sisters and I were still all living at home, so probably late 1950's. Comic books like Archie, Blonde and Dagwood, Little Lulu, Richie Rich, Superman, and Uncle Scrooge, were hot commodities to be traded between friends in our tiny townsite of Bradian. 

After finishing our chores, Saturday afternoons were free and clear to visit friends, trade comic books (some that were more prized than others and commanded a two for one price) and return home to devour our new reading material. However, our dad happened to be a big fan of comic books as well. We had to share with him, sometimes giving up the best ones for him to read first! 

But the real fun happened on Sundays. The Vancouver Sun always arrived in our town a day late. The travel time between Vancouver and Bralorne was about twelve hours of hard driving, so getting the news, pre-television, pre-internet, was a really big deal. 

The thick weekend paper would hit the front step, and the chase would be on with my long-legged father running up and down the streets holding the Saturday 'funnies' hostage while his four daughters pelted after him. We hollered and laughed and yelled like banshees. 

Some of the neighbours would cheer on dad, others would be rooting for one of his daughters to snatch the prized weekend funnies out of his hand. 

Being the youngest and the shortest, I never had a chance so I resorted to subterfuge. I would hide in the one and only bathroom in our company-owned home. Dad would return triumphant and dash into the bathroom, the only room in the house with a locking door, and ta-da, there I was ready to claim my share of Donald Duck, Little Abner, Henry, Jiggs or Nancy. 

Sometime in the mid-1950's when I was four or maybe five, my parents purchased an extensive collection of sixteen encyclopedia-sized books from a traveling salesman. 

The books started with nursery rhymes and progressed to more complex stories that were intended for readers at a grade twelve level. 

I don't remember what the series was called, but I do remember the spines of the books ranged from light blue to deep blue and on to dark green as you progressed through the stories, gradually reading more and more difficult material. 

Then when I was nine, my dad gave me his copy of the Springhill Nova Scotia mining disaster. On October 23, 1958 there was a 'bump,' a shift in the earth that resembled an underground earthquake. 

It killed 75 men, and trapped 99 more. By November 1st 1958 the last of the survivors was found. After that, the search only recovered bodies. 

So, yeah, a little light reading recommended to me by my dad.

My next conquest was all of the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Trixie Beldon, novels ever written plus Little Women and Little Men. By the time that we moved from that tiny mining town in 1961, I had blown through all of the reading material in our house. 

When we moved to a larger city, Chilliwack BC, Dad introduced me to the concept of a library, and being able to choose whatever I wanted to read. My favourites included the entire Zane Grey collection of western novels and anything written by Farley Mowat.

My voracious reading habit has followed me throughout my life. 

Fortunately, both Lawrie and I shared a passion for reading, and for the most part read the same authors. Occasionally I veer into historic novels, and he would find a thriller series that interested him.

When Lawrie and I moved to Mexico in 2008, we made the switch to electronic readers. Books in English were difficult to find, and books in English that we hadn't already read were a rare find. 

Our reading habit became quite costly. We typically ordered an e-book a day from Amazon and devoured it before bedtime. 

Now, I live across the street from a fabulous public library. I can indulge my passion freely.

What are you reading today?

Cheers 

Lynda 

A whole bunch of entertaining mysteries. 

Murder and mayhem, revenge and romance on a tiny island off the coast of Mexico! 

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