Monday, January 10, 2022
Olga Outsmarted
My only excitement yesterday was taking Olga for an afternoon walk through the neighborhood. It was sunny for a change, and as we approached the courtyard door where she usually spars with the cats I began making a video. She's been doing this for years and neither she nor the cats are as enthusiastic as they used to be.
This time, the most aggressive cat -- a calico named April -- didn't show up. Instead this whitish Siamese outwitted Olga by staying entirely out of reach, while still watching everything. Olga didn't even notice.
Otherwise, it was another day of mostly reading. I'm on my final Newbery book, "The Story of Mankind." It won the very first Newbery medal way back in 1922 -- yes, I saved the first for last -- and it's exactly what it sounds like, a nonfiction account of the development of civilization. It's 662 pages, complete with two updates that bring us to the year 2000, including the Internet, Bill Clinton and Princess Diana. It might sound dreadful, but it was written for children and the writing is light and even amusing (or as amusing as you can be when talking about Ancient Greek city-states), and there are little cartoon illustrations. So far it's been an OK read. I might do some skimming!
Dave and I are both headed back to work today. It will be interesting to see how many people are out for Covid-related absences. I know of three people who tested positive within the past week. We took our lateral flow tests last night and we're both still negative, knock on wood. As I've told Dave, I feel like it's almost inevitable that we'll turn up positive at some point, working in the cauldron of plague that is a school.
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54 comments:
That’s pretty darn cute.
The video made me smile.
What do you do for a living? I’m a Cauldron of Plague Librarian.
Wonderful video, made me laugh. You could have told her to look up!!
The cat looking down a Olga is very funny.
Mask, sanitise and try to keep your distance from those germy kids. But of course I don't have to tell you.
Oh no! No skimming of "The Story of Mankind"! That would bring the reading project to a flawed conclusion. In the future they'll have to add another update to "The Story of Mankind" - about how the Omega variant killed off all the unvaccinated and about how Donald Trump's second term went so badly wrong.
Love Olga sniffing away under surveillance. And I hope you stay well.
That is an hilarious video. I've pretty much reconciled myself that we will be infected at some point. The schools no longer have a mask mandate, and they will send those darling little vectors out into the community.
Such a delightful video Steve. Made me chuckle as it's the kind of thing my cats would do.
Briony
x
Best 51 Seconds On The Inter Web - HA - All The Best This Week There Brother Reed
Cheers
Love the video. Olga needs to think like Tweety Bird and look up once in a while so she, too, can say, "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat." Though I'm guessing Olga's response might have been a tad more vociferous than that one liner. :)
That cat peering down from above followed by Olga grabbing her ball and "going home" is hilarious!
Cauldron of plague is as apt of a description as I've ever heard... and I thought of it that way even before Covid.
That was hysterical. Olga sniffing and sniffing- "I know those cats are here somewhere!" And the little cat watching the whole thing silently. If she had made the tiniest mew, I'm sure that Olga would have gone insane trying to jump up to get her.
Congratulations on the Newberries! You are a persistent man!
I wonder what your next reading project will be?
Cute video of Olga and the peeking cat!
Stay safe at school!
That is such a cute video, Steve. Love that kitty cat peeking over the fence.
Good luck at work today, Oh yes, definitely a cauldron of plague. Stay safe there.
I think with Omicron we'll all be infected eventually. Cauldron of plague is good. I always called schools germ factories.
That little video made me laugh out loud. That cat looks so cool and calm.
Good luck back in the cauldron.
It's tension all the time. Do we have covid or not. Did we get covid the last time we were out.
A fun video! I agree, we'll all get some form of the virus at some point. Hopefully, we won't get very sick. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
That's hilarious.
From what I've heard, even if you do get the Omnicron, the symptoms are mild if you're fully vaccinated and boosted. That video was very funny! Poor Olga.
Ninja cats.
Our kids caught the virus over christmas skiing event- all vaccinated- If by "mild" they mean "wanting to die" then , yes, the symptoms are mile and not something you want. Be extra careful.
Love the video! She knows to look up for squirrels, right?... so I bet she'd have looked up if you'd pointed out the cat. But that might have caused unnecessary frustration for both of them.
I hope to avoid Omicron. Delta, even fully vaccinated, wasn't a pleasant experience.
Oh, Olga! I can't believe the length of that children's book. Wow, I would hesitate to start it, even if the writing is light. :) I'm beginning to think that Omicron is indeed inevitable although I'm hoping to avoid it as long as possible.
I love how that cat is just staring down at Olga who is oblivious - ha! And I'm amazed that you've almost finished the Newberys! Whatever will you do next?
Oscar is regularly outsmarted by the simplest of things - the other day he couldn't figure out to get through a door even though it was already open more than a little - but it required a pull not a push and that was clearly beyond his limited canine intelligence. Love him all the same though!
I'm back in-person at school, but more than half of my classes had to be virtual. I teach at a small private school with a one-to-one ratio (it's called Fusion Academy), so we're pretty good at adapting. Nonetheless, it's disconcerting to be doing this all over again.
I love how the cat peers over the wall!
It's a pretty accurate description.
It was better for all concerned that we avoid the commotion!
Yeah, believe me, I'm doing all of that.
With fiction, I feel like I need to really read it to fairly assess it. But a nonfiction history of the world? I don't feel as compelled to read every word. It's not like I don't know the plot! Maybe it's enough to get a sense of the book and the writing.
She really puts that nose to work. The calico cat, Amber, normally swipes her paws under the door and they growl and hiss at each other. But Amber wasn't playing on this particular day.
We are all masked here, at least at our school, but of course that's not 100 percent preventative.
Cats just love to feel superior. LOL
I knew you'd get a kick out of that!
Yeah, she wouldn't be that articulate. Much more visceral! LOL
I do like how she kept an eye on her ball the whole time.
Exactly! We always talk about school being a stew of infections of all types.
Yeah, that cat knew to stay quiet!
I need to read some adult books for a while. Whew!
It's funny how intent the cat is.
Same thing!
She knows she's on a safe and secure perch!
Constant vigilance!
All we can do is be careful, right?
At least for us. I'm not sure how the cat felt.
I've heard the same, but everything is relative. I've also heard from some people that it's very unpleasant.
Ugh. Yeah, one of my co-workers had it and she said it's miserable.
Yeah, pointing out the cat would have served no purpose except to cause a lot of noise and (for the cat) stress!
I'm going to read what I want for a change! What a luxury!
Well it's hard to pull open a door when you don't have thumbs!
It really is. Every time we think we're past it, we're...not. I guess it will be like flu, maybe seasonally variable.
MEOW!!! outsmarted
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