The Christmas Ladder

The Christmas Ladder

by: David C. Fantone

A CHRISTMAS TREE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. CERTAIN RELIGIONS DON'T RECOGNIZE THE

BEAUTY AND SYMBOLIC MEANING OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE. SOME CAT OWNERS DO,BUT HAVE TO STIFFLE THEIR PASSION FOR SAID TREE. I HAD ALWAYS GROWN UP AROUND THE FULL-BLOWN CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS - TREE, TURKEY, PRESENTS, AND THE LIKE. BUT I KNEW THAT THIS WOULD ALL CHANGE, ONCE ON MY OWN.

IT WAS THE FIRST YEAR THAT I WAS TO SPEND CHRISTMAS ALONE. I HAD MOVE AWAY FROM MY PARENTS AND WAS IN THE BIG WORLD ALL BY MYSELF. BUT I WASN'T REALLY ALL BY MYSELF. I HAD ADOPTED A FEW FRIENDS TO SHARE MY NEW HOME WITH.

OVER THE PAST YEAR, I HAD RESCUED SEVERAL CATS FROM THE LOCAL SHELTER AND FROM THE ROAD WAY. IT SEEMED THAT ONE KITTY JUST WANDERED UP AND INTO MY LIFE FROM OUT OF NOWHERE. I HAD THE ROOM, AND THE FINANCES, AND THE LOVE IN MY HEART TO MAINTAIN THIS LITTLE MENAGERIE. SO ALL WAS O.K. WITH ME AND IT SEEMED LIKE, ALL WAS O.K WITH THE RESIDENTS. EVERYONE GOT ALONG JUST SPLENDIDLY. WHICH SURPRISED ME,

AFTER READING DIFFERENT ARTICLES, IN DIFFERENT MAGAZINES ABOUT " INTRODUCING A NEW CAT TO AN EXISTING GROUP."

IN ONE OF THOSE MAGAZINES THAT I WAS NOW A SUBSCRIBER TO, I HAD READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT CATS AND CHRISTMAS TREES. I WAS AMAZED AT ALL THE DANGERS THAT A CAT COULD FALL VICTIM TO DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON. THE CHRISTMAS TREE. WAS ONE OF THE ITEMS THAT PROVIDED THE MOST HAZARD TO MY KITTIES AND CATS. "SO,THIS YEAR THERE WILL BE NO TREE" I SAID TO MYSELF. " NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WANTED ONE OR WOULD MISS ONE, I WOULD NOT PUT ANYONE IN JEOPARDY".

IT WAS DECEMBER 23 AND IT JUST DIDN'T FEEL LIKE CHRISTMAS. NO TREE? HOW COULD IT BE CHRISTMAS? THERE WERE PRESENTS IN THE CORNER, AND MOM SENT A MIXED BATCH OF HER FAMOUS CHRISTMAS COOKIES. BUT WITH OUT A TREE, IT JUST WASN'T CHRISTMAS. I SAT WITH MY ADOPTED FAMILY OF CATS WATCHING THE T.V., WITH ALL IT WONDERFUL COMMERCIALS WITH BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS TREES IN THEM. I WAS THINKING TO MYSELF " AT LEAST NO ONE WILL GET HURT FROM ANY BROKEN ORNAMENTS, OR CHOKE ON ANY ICICLES."

BUT STILL I MISSED THE TRADITION, BEAUTY, AND THE EFFECT OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE.

I DIDN'T WANT THIS TO JUST PASS BY WITHOUT TRYING TO FIND SOME KIND OF SOLUTION. IT HIT ME ALL AT ONCE. I'LL MAKE A CAT SAFE CHRISTMAS TREE. THAT'S IT. I'LL DO IT MY SELF.

I'LL JUST THINK A WHILE AND I'LL COME UP WITH SOMETHING. AND IT DID COME TO ME. I'LL TAKE MY SIX FOOT LADDER AND PAINT IT GREEN. THAT WILL BE MY TREE. THEN A FEW APPLES AND ORANGES WILL BE THE LIGHTS, A COUPLE OF POPCORN GARLANDS AND A LOT OF COLORFUL STICKERS WILL TAKE THE PLACE OF THE ORNAMENTS.

BY DECEMBER 24TH THE PAINT ON THE LADDER WAS ALL DRY AND THE TREE WAS TRIMMED. I PUT THE PRESENTS SENT FROM HOME UNDER IT AND I WAS HAPPY. THE CATS WERE VERY INQUISITIVE ABOUT THE NEW AND COLORFUL STRUCTURE THAT WAS ERECTED IN THE CORNER OF THE LIVING ROOM. THEY LOOKED AND LOOKED AND, WHEN THEY GOT BRAVE ENOUGH, THEY SNIFFED AND SNIFFED, AND THEY SNIFFED SOME MORE. AFTER A WHILE, EVERYONE WAS BACK ON THE COUCH WATCHING T.V. TO THEM IT WAS NO BIG DEAL.

EVERYONE HAD THEIR TIME EXPLORING AND THEN IT WAS JUST ACCEPTED AS ANOTHER PIECE OF THE FURNITURE. BUT TO ME, IT WAS MY FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE AND A CAT SAFE ONE TOO. IT HELPED WITH THE FEELING OF LONELINESS AND THE LACK OF REAL FAMILY.

I SAT THERE HOLDING ONE CAT AND RUBBING ANOTHER. I HAD ONE BEHIND MY HEAD ON THE BACK OF THE COUCH AND ONE IN MY LAP. BUT STILL THE FEELING OF BEING ALONE CAME OVER ME. I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD NEVER BECOME HOMESICK, BUT IN FINAL ANALYSIS, I WAS. THE NEWLY-MADE TREE HELPED, BUT IT ALSO HINDERED. IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE AND I WAS WISHING IT WAS ALL OVER.

SLEEP COULD BE THE SOLUTION TO THIS DILEMMA. YES, IT WAS EITHER GO TO BED AND

SLEEP OR STAY UP AND BROOD OVER THE FACT THAT I WAS ALONE. BESIDE, IT WAS GETTING LATE AND SANTA WAS COMING. THE WHOLE TIME I WAS LAYING THERE TRYING TO SLEEP, ALL THAT I COULD THINK OF WAS WAKING UP, ALONE. THERE WOULD BE NO BROTHERS AND SISTERS, NO MOTHER AND FATHER, NO PRESENTS, NO TURKEY. " WOE IS ME" I THOUGHT.

TOSSING AND TURNING, SLEEP WOULD NOT COME TO ME. FIFTEEN MINUTES PASSED, THEN A HALF AN HOUR DRAGGED ON. LOOKING AT THE CLOCK THIS TIME, I COULD SEE THAT IT WAS FIFTY FIVE MINUTES SINCE I HAD LAID DOWN. THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY, NOT JUST TONIGHT, BUT TOMORROW, WHAT WILL THAT BRING? THEN IN THE SILENCE OF THE NIGHT I HEARD SOMETHING. "MEOW," A STRANGE MEOW. I KNEW THE VOICES OF ALL MY CATS AND THIS WAS NOT ONLY A STRANGE VOICE BUT IT SOUNDED DIFFERENT, IN DISTRESS. IT WENT ON A COUPLE OF MORE TIMES AND NOW I COULD TELL THAT IT WAS COMING FROM OUTSIDE.

THIS WAS A GOOD REASON TO ESCAPE FROM THE DARK ROOM THAT WOULD NOT LET ME SLEEP. I RACED DOWN THE STAIRS TO THE FRONT DOOR. LOOKING OUT, I COULD SEE THE GOLDEN REFLECTIONS OF A PAIR OF EYES STARING BACK AT ME FROM UNDER THE

NEIGHBORS CAR. I KNEW THAT THEY HAD NO PETS, SO IT WASN'T THEIRS. I SLOWLY MOVED FROM THE THRESHOLD TO THE FIRST STEP. "HEAR, KITTY, KITTY" I CALLED. TO MY SURPRISE THE CAT CAME RUNNING TO ME.

SHE HAD TINY DROPLETS OF FROZEN WATER ON HER WHISKERS AND HER BODY TEMPERATURE WAS DROPPING TO A DANGEROUS LEVEL. IT WAS ALL THAT I COULD DO TO KEEP FROM BREAKING INTO TEARS. A QUICK INTRODUCTION AND WE WERE BACK IN THE HOUSE. ALL THE OTHER CATS WATCHED ME AND A STRANGE CAT WHIZZING PAST. TO MY SURPRISE, EVERYONE WAITED QUIETLY IN THE OTHER ROOM.

AFTER A WARM BOWL OF MILK AND A DISH OF HOLIDAY FARE, A QUICK INSPECTION WAS IN ORDER. TO MAKE IT EASIER ON HER, I HELD HER IN MY ARMS AND LOOKED HERE AND THERE.

" NO EARMITES, NO SIGN OF TAPE WORMS, AND NO CUTS. GOOD. BUT WHAT A BELLY. YOU’RE A BIG KITTY AREN'T YOU?" I WAS REALLY HESITANT ABOUT BRINGING A NEW CAT IN TO THE FOLD WITH OUT A COMPLETE AND PROFESSIONAL EXAMINATION. WHAT WAS WORSE, THERE WAS NO WAY TO QUARANTINE HER. I JUST HAD TO TAKE MY CHANCES AND HOPE THAT SHE WAS FREE OF ANY FELINE DISEASE. I THEN PUT HER DOWN AND SET HER FREE TO EXPLORE. IT WASN'T LONG UNTIL SHE HAD FOUND EVERY CORNER OF THE SMALL AREA THAT I CALLED HOME. SHE ALSO SEEMED TO GO TO EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE AND ALLOWED HERSELF TO BE INTRODUCED WITH THE USUAL SNIFF SNIFF. " IT MUST BE CHRISTMAS, FOR EVERYONE TO GET ALONG SO WELL" I THOUGHT TO MYSELF. ALL THE INTRODUCTIONS WENT WITHOUT INCIDENT. EVERYONE ACCEPTED HER WITHOUT A SPIT, HISS, OR A GROWL.

IT WAS GETTING LATE AND ALL I COULD DO WAS DONE. I TOLD HER THE RULES OF THE

HOUSE AND MADE HER A BED NEAR MINE. IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE I WAS FAST ASLEEP. I RECALLED THE NEXT DAY, THAT IT WAS A GOOD SLEEP. IF I DREAMED, I COULDN'T

REMEMBER. UPON WAKING, I LOOKED FOR MY NEWLY FOUND FRIEND IN THE BED THAT I HAD MADE FOR HER, BUT SHE WASN'T THERE. I CLIMBED OUT FROM UNDER THE WARMTH AND HEADED FOR THE COFFEE POT AND REALIZED THE IT'S CHRISTMAS MORNING. I CHANGED THE DIRECTION THAT I WAS HEADING, TO THE CENTERPIECE OF THE HOLIDAYS, THE CHRISTMAS TREE. MY TREE. MY CAT-PROOF CHRISTMAS TREE.

ROUNDING THE CORNER, A SMILE CAME UPON MY FACE. I COULD SEE THAT ON EVERY RUNG OF THE LADDER, ONE OF MY CATS WERE SITTING. THEY ALL LOOKED AT ME AT THE SAME TIME, ALMOST AS IF IT WAS REHEARSED. THEN THEY ALL LOOKED AWAY. I COULD SEE THAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT SOMETHING UNDER THE TREE. SLOWLY I WALKED CLOSER TO SEE WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT. AMONG THE PRESENTS WAS MY NEW FRIEND AND SHE WASN'T ALONE. SHE WAS CLEANING HER NEWLY BORN KITTENS.

THERE WAS NO WAY OF RETRIEVING ANY PACKAGE FROM UNDER MY CHRISTMAS LADDER WITHOUT DISTURBING HER. BUT THAT WAS OK. I HAD TWO PRESENTS THAT WERE VERY SPECIAL TO ME. THE KITTENS WERE NAMED SANTA AND CLAWS, AND I BLESSED MY NEWLY FOUND FRIEND WITH THE NAME OF NOEL.