Monday, November 26, 2007

Some Days Are Howlidays


Sailor here.

A few days ago in the dark of night, Mom woke me up, saying, “Sailor, are you all right?”

Huh? I was asleep. How was I to know if I was all right? She said that I woke her up howling. I was howling? She said it was that eerie sound that a dog makes when its person dies, so we checked to see if Mom was still alive. She was. She said that I must have been having a dream. Darn, I think I missed it; I’d like to know what my dream was all about.

Speaking of howling, Zoe is spending the night. Not that Zoe howls or anything, but her parents are going to a Pack Howl and thought it would me much more fun for Zoe to be here than to be home alone. Zoe agreed. Mom says that the Pack Howl is actually called the O-purr-a but that it doesn't have anything to do with cats. I find this a bit confusing. Dog language is so much easier to understand.

Mom says that going to the Pack Howl is a ritual in itself. Katy and Erik dress up wearing mostly black and right before going out the front door, they take these sticky rollers and roll each other’s clothing front and back. Zoe hair comes off all over the rollers. Then they walk down the front steps and usually drive away in the car with the least dog hair. I love it that dog hair can rule one’s social life even if Zoe does have to stay home.

I think Zoe should get to go to the event, too, since pack howls are for the whole pack. It’s the chance to yell, “I am here, where are you?” and get the answer, “I am here, right where you left me!” But Mom says that at this Howl, the audience only listens and does not join in. I find this strange. I mean, how can you go to a howl and NOT join in? I would find that impossible. Mom does say that at Christmas time, a lot of people howl along with themselves at something called Handle’s Mess. Then everybody gets to sing the Howlalulleja Chorus. This sounds more like it.

Katy and Erik love the O-purr-a because Katy is studying voice and howling O-purr-a at home. Mom says that when Katy is around, I have to call it singing. Studying voice means that she sings and takes singing lessons and practices singing at home. Zoe usually joins in and promptly gets put outside. K.aty says that Zoe is not always right on key. Josie the FatCat runs and hides in the linen closet instead of purring along. What a missed opportunity. If I were there, Zoe and I could study voice in the back yard and we’d even let Josie join in.

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