The month of February was very stormy in Boston, and we got a lot of snow.  By a lot I mean that it snowed for days, pretty much without stopping.  I’m not sure exactly how much a lot is because I don’t know how to count snow.

I do know how to count, and I’ve known how to for a long time.  I can count numbers as high as I need to- I just never learned how to count snow.  It’s gone now, anyway; there’s zero snow left. 

Snow is cool for the most part. I like being out in the yard when the snow is falling, and walking on top of the snow when it’s hard and there’s a lot of it.  I’m not crazy about cold paws, which happens when snow is soft, and my paws sink in a little bit.  I’m still not sure how to tell the difference between soft snow and hard snow without stepping into it, but that’s something that I’ll learn.  The humans can seemingly differentiate between the two.

The only thing that I dislike about snow is that it prevents me from seeing my friend Sandy.

Sandy is a dog, and he’s ooooooooold.  I’m not sure how old he is in human or cat years, but he looks and sounds to be about 150 in dog years.  The humans have mentioned that Sandy has been visiting the neighborhood for years, and that he’s always been leash-less.  They are sure that Sandy has a home somewhere close-by with some humans, although they are unsure of exactly where. 

Anyway, March has been much nicer in Boston.  It’s been warmer, and the snow has been leaving.  I figured out that snow likes the cold weather, and it leaves when the weather gets warmer.  I never see it leave, and where it goes is a good question.

I was out in the backyard one day last week, on my leash as always, when I heard with my fantastic feline hearing a familiar sound…

Wheezing.  Heavy, labored breathing.  And it was coming from the front sidewalk.

I ran out the driveway to meet my old friend.  When I got to the sidewalk I paused; Sandy was visiting with my human and was getting patted, which acted as a distraction.  I decided to sneak up behind the canine, hoping to surprise. 

Hey, it's my dear friend Sandy!! Hi Sandy, it's me, Zeuss!

Sandy spotted me before I got there.  We sniffed each other’s faces.  He told me that a cat should never try to sneak up on a dog, that it could be dangerous.  He said dogs always know when cats are around, even if the cats are being sneaky.  I appreciated his advice, and let him know that I would only approach dog’s from the inside of the fence from now on, and that I would do it in a non-threatening fashion.

We hung out a bit, until I got distracted by a noise farther down the sidewalk.  Moments later, Sandy stood, stretched and muttered “Goodbye” under his wheezing.  I ran back towards him in order to say goodbye myself, and then watched him depart across the street.

Goodbye old friend...

I was planning on giving a “shout out” to Sandy in today’s blog, but I decided to hold off.  He’s a great dog and a good friend, but I’m not sure that he knows what a blog is, or a computer, or a “shout out”, for that matter.  Sandy is old, from a time before computers.  Instead, I decided to tell everyone who reads this what a good dog he is, so hopefully if he comes by your neighbor you’ll hook him up with a snack, or scratch behind the ears, and be his friend.

Happy St.Patrick’s Day next week, everyone!

-Zeuss

P.S. Shout out to Sandy anyway.  No doubt someone will read this to him.