CLEAN UP and TIDY UP

Yesterday, I kinda sorta knew something was happening 'cause mine Mommy was on the phone with her really good friend, they talk like almost every day, but she was laughing a lot.  He lives way West in Maryland, so far that when he puts his hand out his window he wiggles his fingers in West Virginia!!  Anywayz, I asked her what was so funny and she said he said, "he had to clean his apartment really good and get all his laundry done spic 'n' span for all the days ahead, cause his grandma had always taught him that you wouldn't have a clean and tidy life if'n you didn't clean up and tidy up the one you were leaving behind!"  Mine Mommy thought that was both an amusing but practical tradition (which I did not understand at all) and she spent much of the day busily cleaning-and-tidying up where we live!

Then early this morning she had to put the trash down, one of the things she never finished up yesterday.  She often leaves the door open so I can have one of my little walkabouts up and down our hallway, so out I went.  I saw the holiday wreath on Miss Pat's door with the jingle bells I could hear when she came and went, but they were too high up for me to jump and get them, though they'd have been fun to play with.  Of course, I went to Mr. Robert's door, my favorite ~ he has decals of animals all over his door ~ all kinds of cats and dogs and even zoo animals and I love looking at them.  He once told mine Mommy his entire living room wall is covered with more, mostly kitties and puppies, that sounds so cool to me!  Anywayz, I saw mine Mommy on her way back home so I hurried to follow after her ...

But as I turned to come in our door, I bumped into Mr. Cliff's front door (he lives right across the hall from me) and  suddenly my nose and my whiskers got tickled and I even sneezed a little sneeze and I looked over and up at his door to see all these shiny and sparkly and colorful sprinkles and stars falling from above, all pretty and bright and wonderful (even though tickly) and then I knew.  I knew what it was all about ... it was the time of year when all the human peoples go all silly and have all these traditions and either get happy (or not) because one year is ending and another is beginning.  Sometimes they are filled with lots of hopes and plans that lots of things will get better, sometimes they are sad because the year they're leaving behind had sadness in it.  But this change takes place whatever they are feeling.  As a cat, it doesn't matter a lot to me.  One day, one week, a new year will be kinda sorta just like another.

But on behalf of me and mine Mommy, I will say I hope if you are wanting for some new and better things in the new year ahead, well, work toward that and do your best to make it real.  Mine Mommy says she thinks the world has been a messy, not really good world this past one and we all need to get our act together going forward and do a better job with each other and for each other.  

Me, well, I'm going to go get most of these sprinkles off my nose right now.  I might leave a few of them on until tomorrow as a reminder ... of whatever I, you, all of us need to be reminded of each day, to get through the year ahead.  You know, like maybe cleaning up and tidying up the messy mess all 'round us ...