To my 23,417 feline followers, especially my many cat cousins residing in Virginia and Ohio, in my last post, 50th – The Celebration, I said: “In conjunction with our innate cognitive superiority, our instincts have enabled us to interpret human behavior and fashion it to our personal designs. If there is any doubt that my statements are not correct, I offer you my total and uncontested control over Blondie, Ol’ Fuzz Face, and the entire Serendipity Farmhouse establishment as supporting evidence.” (Emphasis added) – – As you will see later in this post, I sometimes employ my power of ‘control’ with humorous results.
But before I engage in lighthearted tales, I must first give you a quick description of how I so flawlessly carried out my duties as Chief of Security during our most recent trip in El Camino Del Monte (ECDM) – RV Trip 2022-02.
The primary purpose of this trip was to determine if Fuzzy and Blondie could endure the joy and shear excitement of spending three whole nights with me in ECDM. To do so they would have to modify their sleeping and waking times to my schedule. They would also have to reconcile themselves to the reality that if I wanted to be fed at 2:18 AM, then they would have to depart their restful dreamlands and join me, pet me, speak with me, and play with me as I take part in my early morning snack. – – Mostly because of my lovable demeanor and appreciative purring, my two ‘big cats’ outdid themselves and met all my outrageous demands. In that respect, RV Trip 2022-02 was a resounding success.
As you can see in this picture, I am ever on the alert. In this particular case, I pointed out to Blondie that there was a pair of cardinals nearby. She was quite happy that I called them to her attention because she could view them more closely than we do at Serendipity Farmhouse. I humbly accepted her praise. – – After all, it’s just part of the job.
Over the course of our three-day trip, I spent the majority of my time checking out what might best be called a ‘claim jumper’ or a ‘squatter’. Our camp site was clearly marked with our name and the dates for our stay were posted. This guy, whom I later named ‘Jacques’ as in ‘Jacques-rabbit’, however, paid no attention to our rightful residence. For three days, this guy just hung around. I tried getting his attention through the screen door, but he seldom even looked my way.
I must admit that he was a somewhat cute, though he would not have been allowed to roam freely near our vast gardens on the SFH estate. Yes, I’ll give him cute, but I don’t think I’ll concede that he was very smart. How smart could any creature be if they don’t respond to my calling and immediately tremble in terror. – – So, it remains to be seen whether I will include Jacques on my list of friends or on my list of recipes.
Now, Blondie and Fuzzy have some mystifying behaviors. For example, they often play cards, Rummy to be precise. After years of watching them, it has become abundantly clear that Blondie is the superior player by far. Fuzzy is slow and dull and quite capable of making moves that are extraordinarily foolish. On the first full day of our trip, Blondie once again exhibited her prowess and crushed Fuzzy four hands to one. – – It was brutal!
As I mentioned earlier, I exercise total control over all that happens within the SFH family. All it takes from me is a turning of the ears, a flip of the tail, or a purring sound. Having seen the humbled mess of a man that was all that remained of Fuzzy after his loss to Blondie, I decided that it was time to have some fun.
The next day, I put my plan into action. In an earlier picture, you can see how easy it is for me to sit behind Blondie. That is where she normally sits in the dinette when playing cards. So, there it was that I sat during the Rummy rematch on the second full day. From there, I could see Blondie’s hand. From there, Fuzzy could see me. From there, I ‘the feline in command’ could change the outcome of the game. – – No, Fuzzy didn’t consciously cheat. He wasn’t even aware of what was happening. When he looked at me, he could see me twist my ears. He could see me flip my tail. Subconsciously, he was being controlled by my entirely innocent looking movements.
Only I knew what the result would be. – – On this day, it was Blondie who was crushed four hands to one. I allowed her one win to spare her pride. – – There it was. Blondie won the first day and Fuzzy won the second day. The score was even and – absolutely no card games – were played on the third day. My two big cats remain happy and loving with each other.
And with that righteous good work concluded, I deserve a long nap.
A fitting end to another hard day at work
SFH has other measures for determining the arrival of Spring. We can now see that all 33 cloves of garlic planted in late-Autumn have now emerged from their Winter rest. – – There is still some good in this world!
Now it’s important to note that the beverages offered with the meal were not listed – that was due to certain privacy concerns. Serendipity River Park is located quite close to several breweries, and a fine distillery is within easy walking distance. With this in mind, GS#3, SIL#1, and I were confronted with an array of beverage options. It was only after a long and meaningful discussion that we finally settled upon the manly beverage that would accompany our meal. That’s right, you guessed it – 
The second day of this misadventure was just as hot and steamy as the first. Fuzzy and Blondie attempted to humor themselves and enjoy their outing as if the weather was perfectly pleasant. It was apparent that they had spent too much time in the sun and were delusional. Blondie went so far as to pose for pictures to prove that she was having a delightful time. But, it wasn’t even a half hour later at lunch when she lost all of her composure.
Let me tell you what happened and what I saw through the kitchen window. At lunchtime, Blondie proclaimed that lunch would be served in her beloved screen tent. She opined that it would be ever so pleasant to dine outside and enjoy the sounds of nature and the gentle breeze. Blondie and Fuzzy carried all the fixings for lunch to the tent. They carefully zipped up the doorway screen and sat down to eat their midday repast. Simultaneously, two things began to happen. First, both of those “nature lovers” began to sweat profusely. They smiled at each other attempting to hide their discomfort, but moisture oozing from beneath their garments betrayed them. Second, it became apparent that the screen tent, when closed, does two things: it locks flies out and it locks flies in. In the case of my two humans, they had locked in with them the single most obnoxious fly in the entire Shenandoah Valley. It landed on their food. It landed on their beverage glasses. It did pirouettes on their ears and their noses. It caused them to swat and flail about, feverishly attempting to smush the intruder. And the obnoxious little fellow would not cease.
