{"id":411,"date":"2010-09-12T04:00:51","date_gmt":"2010-09-12T08:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joeclarksblog.wordpress.com\/?p=411"},"modified":"2011-06-24T17:21:02","modified_gmt":"2011-06-24T21:21:02","slug":"spike-and-gracie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/?p=411","title":{"rendered":"Spike\u00a0and\u00a0Gracie"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>

Gracie<\/p><\/div>\n

Ardis looks at Gracie lounging on the couch.\u00a0 The cat is taking great pleasure in napping and shedding at the same time.\u00a0 \u201cDo you think it\u2019s too late to establish a No Cats on the Furniture<\/em> rule?\u201d Ardis asks.\u00a0 I look at my wife and realize she is joking.<\/div>\n

\u201cMight as well go down to the beach and tell the ocean to stop touching the sand,\u201d I reply.\u00a0 Gracie is a great cat, but she sheds way too much fur.<\/p>\n

Gracie came to us by accident, as most cats do.\u00a0 This story starts with Spike, one of the nicest and strangest cats I have ever known.\u00a0\u00a0Of all the cats I have ever been around, I have never known one to share his food with another cat.\u00a0 Spike did.<\/p>\n

Ardis would get up and morning and crack the sliding back door allowing Spike out for a morning romp before she went to work.\u00a0 By this time in the morning, I was already long gone on my way to work.\u00a0 One day she called, frantic that Spike had not returned.<\/p>\n

When I got home that evening, she was still very upset.\u00a0 The day was terrible, with thunderstorms and lightning.\u00a0 And still, no Spike.\u00a0 At her urging, we made up \u201clost cat\u201d signs but could not post them because of the weather.\u00a0 We would have to wait until the morning.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, we talked about getting another cat to keep Spike company or replacing him if he was gone for good.\u00a0 In the discussion I mentioned female calico cats.\u00a0 We made up our minds not go out looking for a calico cat, but if one came along we were receptive to giving it a good home.\u00a0 As we discussed these and other possibilities, we went to bed.<\/p>\n

Just in case, we left the garage door cracked open if Spike should come home.\u00a0 Now it was late at night, and Ardis started to say, \u201cI think I hear him!\u201d\u00a0 I thought, Oh great.\u00a0 Now we\u2019re going to start with the phantom cat calls all night.<\/em>\u00a0 She kept insisting that she heard him.\u00a0 I kept insisting it was only her imagination.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, I heard him.\u00a0 My first thought was, Great!\u00a0 Now I\u2019m suffering from imaginary ghost meows.<\/em>\u00a0 Then by golly, I heard him.<\/p>\n

I jumped out of bed and opened the door to the garage and in walked this huge black and very wet cat.\u00a0 Spike was very glad to be home.\u00a0 However, he was not as nearly happy to be home as Ardis was to see him.<\/p>\n

After we cleaned him up and dried him off, he went to his food bowl and had a little snack.\u00a0 We turned in for\u00a0the evening and after a while, Spike jumped up on the foot of the bed and went to sleep as if nothing happened.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Spike<\/p><\/div>\n

The next day, Ardis revoked Spike\u2019s backyard privileges and went to work with the knowledge Spike was safe and sound inside the house.\u00a0 When she got to work, her friend Mo came over and asked, \u201cWould you like a cat?\u201d \u00a0Then Mo quickly remembered Ardis had a cat, a big black beast named Spike.\u00a0 \u201cOh, never mind, I forgot you already have a cat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of a cat?\u201d Ardis asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cA young calico kitten.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes, God and His feline sidekick are in charge of with whom and where cats should live.<\/p>\n

-30-<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2010 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ardis looks at Gracie lounging on the couch.\u00a0 The cat is taking great pleasure in napping and shedding at the same time.\u00a0 \u201cDo you think it\u2019s too late to establish a No Cats on the Furniture rule?\u201d Ardis asks.\u00a0 I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[752,802,1383,1922,2243,2249,2428,2473,2562,2766,3207,3316,3972,530],"class_list":["post-411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-in-general","category-personal","tag-calico-cats","tag-cats","tag-felines","tag-imaginary-ghost-meows","tag-lost-cat","tag-lounging-on-the-couch","tag-morning-romp","tag-napping","tag-no-cats-on-the-furniture-rule","tag-phantom-cat-calls","tag-shedding","tag-spike-and-gracie","tag-thunderstorms-and-lightning","tag-lost-cat-signs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t