SUSAN LOESCH
CATS IN THE STACKS

Most of the time Alex is a pretty darn laid back guy. He handles fire drills and tornado drills just fine, and he doesn’t even move a whisker when the bell rings even if he is sitting on the front desk right beneath it.

But vacuum cleaners — that is an entirely different thing. Alex hates the sound of the vacuum cleaner!

Most mornings, Ms. Verda comes in to vacuum the library, and when she leaves I know exactly where to look to find a hiding Mr. Alex.

At the first hum of the vacuum he heads to my back office and goes right behind my computer monitor where he stays ‘til the coast is clear.

He came out of hiding today to the sound of the voices of my second graders. They were all excited because they have learned how to do cartwheels.

So Alex sat in his bed on the front desk while they showed us what they can do. We do have our rule, Books Before Cats, but nowhere does it say anything about Books Before Cartwheels!

After the cartwheel show, the girls got bubble gum treats for passing quizzes on Footsie’s Favorites, and of course Alex had to have treats, too.

As he ate from their hands they giggled as they told us, “It tickles!”

Watching him gobble up the green treats one student asked if he could see their color. We stopped and checked on the Internet to see just what colors cats can see, and sure enough, green and blue are the two they see best.

Then it was down to work on Library Skills for us and time for a nap for Alex!