Viewing the Perseids with Sidney and Friends

by Henri of Twin Brook

As I surfed the net, I came across a site which listed all the meteor showers which would occur in the summer months. I had not forgotten how good a meteor shower could be, how awesome to the eye, how bits of dust and dirt could strike joy and wonder into the heart and soul as heavenly debris sped through the skies leaving a trail of light and color in their wake. Often, as a cat of the streets, I had witnessed the phenomena of meteor showers. As a house cat, too many other things had taken priority over a mere hobby but this year, the weather report had said that the sky would be clear the morning of August twelfth. I then decided, that this year I would not miss this wonderful event! "Sidney!" I meowed loudly. "Come here! I want to talk to you!"

"Yeah, what?" he growled.. I had awakened him from his nap and he looked at me, bleary eyed and sullen. "I was having a wonderful dream! I was chasing Helen all over the basement and had her trapped under the oil tank. You went and ruined it!"

"Sidney, you twit! You couldn't trap a flea under the oil storage tank, much less Helen who has, on many occasions, given you a good smack on your tail! Now get over here and look what's on the computer screen," I demanded.

"Oh, you and your dumb computer! Always looking at the computer! It's a wonder you're not cross-eyed! Now show me what's so important," complained Sidney. He jumped up on the chair and peered at the screen, his eyes narrowed slits. "I don't see anything!"

"Read the caption under the picture," I hissed.

Sidney wagged his head back and forth. "I don't see anything very interesting. It's about something called a meteor shower....."

"That's it!" I meowed. "It's about a meteor shower! You and I are going to get up very early Tuesday morning and go out on the deck, lay down on our backs and watch the meteors streak across the sky!"

"Wrong!" growled Sidney. "You, alone are going to wake up very early Tuesday morning, go out on the deck, lay down on your back and watch a pile of dirt streak across the sky! I am going to remain indoors, snoozing peacefully on my favorite bed!"

I was determined to add a little science and culture to Sidney's life and the solution was obvious. At two o'clock Tuesday morning, August the twelfth, I grabbed Sidney by the tail, dragged him from his slumbers on the bed and hauled him out the back door onto the deck. He shrieked and howled, beating his front paws against the tiles of the kitchen floor, hoping to arouse our persons. They are so accustomed to Sidney's cries of anguish over every small mishap that they are prone to ignoring him. And that morning, they ignored him....

Sidney and I lay on the deck, our eyes fastened to the heavens above us. After fifteen minutes a bright flash streaked across the sky. A few minutes later another meteor came within the earth's atmosphere. I was awed by the spectacle. Sidney was terrified that one of the blazing specks would single him out and come crashing down on his defenseless head. "I could get killed!" he meowed. "And it's all your fault, Henri!"

"Well," I growled, "if the meteor doesn't do you in, then surely the alligator who lives in the rose bushes will have you for breakfast, Sidney."

"I knew there were alligators in Connecticut!" Sidney howled. "You lied, Henri! You told me there weren't any alligators in Connecticut!"

"I will protect you from the alligators, Sidney. After all, I wouldn't want any of them to get sick because they had you for a snack. The Humane Society would be on my tail about that..."

"My back hurts!" whined Sidney. " I have a cramp in my tail! This deck is too hard for a pussy cat like me! I need a pillow...."

"Put your paws behind your head. That will be like having a pillow. Your learning something about our solar system, Sidney. Rejoice! I'm showing you something special that any cat would be delighted to see. Desdemona and I often spent hours watching meteor showers."

"I'm cold! Could you get me a hot water bottle, Henri? There is one in the linen closet. Just fill it with hot water...of course make sure it isn't too hot because I have a very delicate skin/fur system...."

. "I made a mistake. Go back to bed. You're really not a whole lot of fun! I"m not going to get you a hot water bottle! (I didn't mention that the last time I tried to turn on the water tap, it took me three hours to get dried out!) I'd rather watch the meteor shower alone." I opened the door to the kitchen and pushed Sidney into the house. He disappeared into the darkened hallway, his paws slipping on the hardwood floor. I returned to my position on the deck and gazed upward at the stars. A few more meteors sped across the sky.

"Henri? Is that you?" A familiar face peered over the fence which bordered the garden.

"Hey, Butch, how are you?" I meowed back at my friend from Belden Place.

"What are you doing out at this time of the morning?" hissed Butch, gruffly.

"Watching the meteor shower," I mewed.

"Can I join you? It looks like fun....." Butch shrugged his massive shoulders. "I've never watched a meteor shower before. Is it like a television show?"

"Sort of...," I told him. "Just keep your meows down and we won't disturb anyone."

The two of us lay on our backs, our front paws tucked beneath our heads. Suddenly, the sky exploded in an extravagance of brightly streaking lines.

"Wow!" purred Butch. "This is really something!"

Within an hour, Penelope and Sparky from the house down the street, wandered into the backyard. Max, that bundle of fur from next door climbed over the fence, a bag of cat treats, hanging from his mouth his mouth. Butch and Max don't get along too well but tonight they were quite civil to each other. Max even allowed Butch to have an equal share of the treats. Of course if he hadn't, Butch would have helped himself....

We spent nearly three hours watching the meteors, each of us returning to our own homes to get more treats or cat food. We ate well, napped a little, told stories about our lives.

"Remember, Henri, how we beat up that awful d*g on Westside Boulevard? Meow that was fun! He never threatened us again!" hissed Butch.

"Yes" I recalled, "those were the good old day. Eating out of garbage cans, catching skinny birds which were more feather than meat, sleeping out in the freezing rain because our favorite deck had been torn down and had been replaced with a concrete porch. Would you really like to go back to the old life, Butch?"

"Not a chance! I've got it made! Three square meals a day, nice laundry basket in the basement..... makes a great bed. Litter pan if I don't want to go out, like in the winter when there are a hundred feet of snow on the ground....."

It was a wonderful evening, filled with friendship and feline joy. Then the colors of dawn rose upon the horizon. We stood up, stretched our paws to the heavens, meowed softly to each other and purred farewell. "Until next year," I reminded them. "What about the Leonids in November?" inquired Max, his eyebrows raised.

"We can do that, if the skies are clear," meowed Penelope.

"I'll bring blankets....." volunteered Sparky.

It had been a wonderful evening.