SUSAN LOESCH
CATS IN THE STACKS

If Alex is wearing green it must be…close to St. Patrick’s Day!

My second graders are planning a surprise for him.

“Shhhhh,” one of them whispered. “We can’t let Alex know what we are doing.” What was happening was gardening in the library. We planted some SmartyKat Sweet Greens Cat Grass, guaranteed to sprout and produce yummy green grass for a St. Patrick’s Day treat for Alex.

We all tiptoed through my office and whispered as we got some water for the grass, and we are pretty sure Alex didn’t figure out what we were up to.

Planting done, we settled down to a Dr. Seuss story.

The girls made sure that Alex got a Cat in the Hat sticker for his bandana. At first he sat with us to listen to the story but then spotted a toy ball and playtime started.

As I read the story, Alex got a chance to chase balls and toy mice, which the girls threw for him, and play with his wand toys.

Today we let our Books Before Cats rule get just a little off-track. We had Gardening Before Books Combined With Alex’s Playtime. Hey, rules are made to be broken, aren’t they, or at least bent a little?

Normally after a day with two cans of Fancy Feast Appetizers and a playtime on the job as well as his serious duties as Library Cat, Alex would get to go home and sleep.

Not this day, though! He had an after-hours gig at the Afterthought as the greeter for a Feline Rescue and Rehome fundraiser, courtesy of fine musician and cat lover Ramona Smith!

As usual, he was a big hit as we stood outside to welcome people.

He dressed up for the gig, wearing his green coat and switching to a festive holiday bandana adorned with shamrocks.

It was a late night for him, but I’m pretty sure all the extra petting and admiration made it worthwhile. I have noticed, though, that he is sleeping on the job this morning.