The days have gotten shorter, and there are no longer leaves on the trees. I miss the warm days that we had while we were in Big Bend. Mom spends a whole day bringing big boxes and large bags to the front porch. She put some green stuff around the door and some funny looking men on either side. Fred tells me they are nutcrackers. She also puts one on each side of the fireplace. She puts smaller ones in different places on the bookcases. I may just have to see if these are things I want to push to the floor. She brings one of the bags into the living room and another into the dining room. When she opens the bags, I crawl into smell the green stuff that is there. Fred tells me they are artificial Christmas trees. I wonder what is special about a Christmas tree, and why we have ones that aren’t real. Fred says it has something to do with Mom’s allergies. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m sure I will figure it out.

The tree in the living room is small enough to sit on the bench under the window between the bookcases. Once she has it in place, she goes to the dining room. That tree sits on the floor, and is much larger. While she is gone, I take the time to get up close and personal with that first tree. She starts laughing when she takes my picture. I climbed back down when she starts to put lights all over both trees. I think these will be pretty at night. I may not want to climb in the tree with those lights. Next, she puts shiny colored balls hanging from the upper branches. On the lower branches she puts different kinds of colored balls. I knock one off the tree just after she puts it on. I want to get a closer look. Mom laughs, picks up the ball, and hangs it back on the tree. I think we have started a game that I will enjoy.

Over the next two weeks, Mom sits in the living room with only the lights from the trees. She is listening to music. I like to curl up in her lap. If this is Christmas, I think it is very peaceful. I’m sad when she puts all of the things back in the boxes, and even the trees are placed in the bags. Fred says I’ll have to wait a whole year for Christmas to come again. I think it will be worth the wait.

The days have gotten longer and there are flowers in the yard. Fred explains that it is spring. We have rain almost every day.  I don’t like the rain, because it means they won’t take me for a walk. Mom says that the backyard turns into a lake after lots of rain. One day we sit on the front porch to watch the downpour. I like the sound of it even if Mom won’t let me leave the porch to explore the bushes that are there. She says she does not want to crawl through the wet bushes to get my lead untangled. Suddenly there is a loud boom. That noise scares me. Mom picks me up to bring me inside. She says the thunder and lightning won’t hurt me, but I’m not so sure. Fred tells me he doesn’t like thunder either.

A few days later, Mom announces that it is Dad’s birthday. Fred explains that birthdays are how people count how old they are. I start to wonder when my birthday is. Mom and Dad announce that we will celebrate my birthday on the same day as Dad’s. They say they don’t know the actual day when I was born, but that should work for how old the vet thought I was when they adopted me. The years they talk about for Dad sounds like a really big number. They say I’m now a one-year-old. This means as a cat I’m all grown up. Somehow, I don’t think I will ever have as many birthdays as Dad has had. I know that a one-year-old person is not all grown up. Mom bakes a cake, and serves it with ice cream. She even puts a little bit of the cake and ice cream on a plate for me! This birthday stuff is just fine.

After the cake and ice cream, Mom and Dad start talking about another trip. This one will be much longer than our trip to Big Bend. Mom says it will be at least a month long. Fred explains that a month is when Mom and Dad camp for the night thirty times. Wow! I’m not sure how I feel about traveling that many days, but I do hope Mom selects good places to spend the nights. If nothing smells as bad as the road did on our way to Big Bend, I should be okay.

Fred says that we will see lots of people that Mom and Dad call family. I hope I like all of them. I like it when people pet me and scratch behind my years. Fred says as long as I don’t try to hide, that’s exactly what family members will do for me. I like the sounds of that.

I have brothers! These are human brothers. They both live in Washington state. The older one has two little girls that come out to the van to hold me and give me kisses. I would just as soon they scratched me under my chin, but I let them kiss me. They are kind of cute for human children. Fred had warned me that they might want to squeeze me, and that it’s not polite for me to scratch them. They don’t, and I don’t, so everything works out fine. My human brother just watches them and smiles. Mom and Dad join them when they go back into the house. Later we drive to a state park campground. It’s very woodsy, and there are pinecones to play with all around our site. It is different than most of the places we have camped. I like that Mom puts me on a leash so we can join Dad and Fred on a real walk.

The next night we camp at a small RV Park closer to my younger human brother. He joins Mom and Dad for dinner. He often shakes his head and chuckles at things Mom says. Fred really likes him. He doesn’t pet me as much as the little girls had, but he watches me as I explore around the van. I’m not sure he’s convinced that I am his brother. I can see that Mom and Dad love both of us. The following night a young woman joins us for dinner. Fred says she is their granddaughter. Mom and Dad both seem delighted to see her. I like to see them happy. While they are eating dinner, I get to inspect all of the mechanical parts under the van. I didn’t notice that the granddaughter left, and it is starting to get dark while I continue to explore. Some of the parts smell like grease and oil, while others smell like the places we have camped. I discover that I can climb up onto a few of those parts. One area is dark, but there are lots of things to smell. Somehow, I manage to wrap my lead around those metal parts. I don’t know how to get back down to the ground! I yell at Mom and Dad for help! I am so afraid. Suddenly Dad opens the cover above my head. He yells at Mom that I am caught in the engine. That doesn’t sound good. Mom manages to get a hand on my harness, and un-snaps my lead. She pulls me out, and scolds me while she cuddles me tight. Dad says he will take Fred for his last walk tonight. Mom clips me to my inside lead while she gets the van ready for all of us to sleep. I don’t think I want to climb up into the engine ever again. I try to remember to behave myself as we make the long drive back home.