TYGER'S DIARY NOVEMBER 16, 1999

As winter approaches, the time draws nearer for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The holidays tend to remind us more than ever of family and happy times together. For Thanksgiving, my cats and I celebrate in grand style. Thanksgiving is a big family affair at our house. All the cats and dogs (and people) come over. We watch the Thanksgiving Day parades, of course. No Thanksgiving would be complete without our annual look at Macy's parade in all it's splendor. The magnificent hot air balloons are a sight to behold. Misty gets a big kick out of watching a giant Garfield float by on the tv screen. The biggest cat in the world and he's all hers, at least for a few moments, till he floats out of view. Then for some there are the afternoon games. But for our family, it's the turkey dinner. Turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, squash, all the trimmings, and a wonderful pie for dessert. We have it every year. Best of all, the cats and dogs get to eat the parts we won't eat, the heart and liver. Misty and Keedie love the liver. SnowPuff won't touch it, but he gets his share of turkey pieces anyway, just as they all do. Tang will growl over his turkey slices with great gusto. He growls all the time as he chews, so that it sounds like "grrr nyah nyah nyah grrr" the whole time he's eating! That growl says, "touch my meat and you die!" Misty doesn't growl, but she'll put her paw out over her slices and stand on them, giving anyone who dares to touch them, a dirty look. "Don't take that, it's all mine!" SnowPuff, always the little gentleman, will step back and let everyone else eat first. If someone steals his, he'll stand by and allow it! We have to watch out for him and make sure he gets his share. Brownie snatches the pieces of meat we give him, so we have to be careful we don't get accidently bitten. Newman accepts his meat gently and graciously. After dessert, it's time to watch the Christmas and Thanksgiving tv specials that come on tv. Misty glues her eyes to the tv screen, fascinated with every moving thing that goes by. She tries to play with the images she sees! She can't touch them, of course, but she tries! Brownie often will watch tv with her, equally as fascinated as she is, especially if there are animals on the tv screen. Everyone sings and lifts a glass in a toast to give thanks for all the good things that life has given them, good food and drink, good friends, family, and love, the most precious things that life has to offer us all. Also, because Brownie's birthday falls close to Thanksgiving Day, it's a double celebration for us. We celebrate his birthday with a nice doggie birthday party at the same time we celebrate Thanksgiving. Brownie gets birthday gifts (mostly dog toys and treats) and a tiny piece of cake and ice cream, all vanilla, of course, right after turkey dinner. Newman and the cats get cake and ice cream, too. When the party is over, cats and dogs curl up by the fireplace and snooze, contented and happy after the day's celebrating is done. Now that Santa Claus has been officially welcomed to town, cats and dogs dream happily about what they might get for Christmas this year, sure in the knowledge that Santa won't pass them by. No good little kitties and doggies are ever forgotten on Christmas eve by this jolly old elf! Happy Thanksgiving everyone from TygerStar079 and family! May you have much to be thankful for.