259. River-Dither Cat
In 1983 my daughter Debbie took off a semester of college to help me with my Mother’s care which was becoming more intense. She brought her little cat, Jana, with her. We lived in a house a block from the Hudson River. I wrote this song:
—
There was a young cat in a dither,
She lived in a house by the river.
Each morning at five she meowed “sakes alive,
I wish that some food would come hither.”
—
She sat by the closed bedroom door,
And tried to break through every snore.
She hoped that tired bones would get up with groans,
And get her rich cat food galore.
—
Tired bones—Great groans,
Cat by the river says “meow.”
Closed door—Loud snore,
Cat in a dither says “meow.”
—
There was a young cat in a dither,
She lived in a house by the river.
Each morning at five she meowed “sakes alive,
I wish that some food would come hither.”
“Meow!”
—
© Copyright 1983 by Ann Freeman Price
Now the story goes on that Jana did sit outside Debbie’s bedroom door and cry for Debbie to get up and feed her. Debbie didn’t. One morning my door must have been not shut tightly and Jana came in my room. It was a huge room with a desk area, a sitting area, a sleeping area, and a piano and bench.
It was five in the morning. I woke suddenly to the sound of one note being played on the piano—one note once, pause, twice, pause, three times—and I sit up to look at Jana on the piano bench, watching me, and playing one note over and over again. It was too good a trick to not reward, so I got up and fed her.
From that time on, I made sure that my door was shut.
