SUSAN LOESCH

Here we are back at school; it’s Registration Day, when the kids come back. I remember this day last year, Alex with me, bad news about Footsie to deliver to the kids. I wondered if we would make it through the year.

Make it we did, even with Alex’s sudden death, and now a new year begins.

Shadow, Barney, Hexie and Tank will share Library Cat duties, with Shadow and Barney as co-Head
Library Cats.

They all got plenty of work experience with our weekly field trips during the summer.

Shadow was here with me the week the staff had meetings, and he has had a ball!

Lots of staff members have come by to say hello to him, and he has been at his charming best as he greeted them!

Mail continues to come in during the summer, so the library is always piled high when I come back in August. To Shadow this made for a wonderful playground, boxes stacked on the front desk so high that he could go face-to-face with the great white shark model some of the kids created in
art years ago. It will “swim” in the air over the desk until the day I retire and then it will “dive.”

Shadow met his good friend, our instrumental music director, with enthusiasm.

I think they were both smiling as Shadow rolled and head-butted as he was petted. Mr. G. pronounced him very Footsie-esque, which is a big compliment. His Footsie traits include not only the good things but some not so good!

One of the first things Shadow did was go for the Styrofoam cup full of coffee on my desk and knock it over. That got the cup out of his way so he could roll on the desk and my keyboard!

When one of our mobility instructors, Ms. Pam, came in, he was ready to play and rolled and played with her hand.

She brings her mobility students to the library, and they get some kitty time as part of their lessons.

Our English teacher, Ms. Cynda, had ordered lots of books for her students and she came up to see what we had gotten in.

Shadow helped her unpack the boxes and look through the books.

We all think the kids will be excited with the new reading material.

Every time I left the library, Shadow sat looking at the door, talking.

When I would come back, there he was, watching for me.

He was probably thinking, “Come on back, Mom, we have work to do to get ready for our kids!”

It won’t be long; another year of adventures is about to begin.