"Holy Crap! It's Raining Cats!"

Today's story needs some stage-setting. Every morning, Camden the Wonder Dog arrows out the front door in search of adventure and a good place to poop. His trajectory usually angles him toward a cluster of bird feeders in the yard's east-most corner.

Said corner frequently contains several marauding squirrels, though for some reason, not today.

Anchoring that corner is a large evergreen tree, some kind of cedar, I think. Birds hang out there, resting between sunflower seed buffets. Squirrels do too, though for some reason, not today.

And my neighbors to the west own a coal-black tomcat named Panther, a large, usually-friendly, mostly-outdoor kitty who yowls and howls, plunders and pillages, generally cutting a big, loud swath through the country life.

So today, CtWD is tearing across the yard as usual when I hear something rustling in the cedar tree. Thinking it's either a squirrel or some steroidal hulk of a bird, I glance over and see Panther, two-thirds of the way up the tree, frantically reversing course and trying to climb down.

Apparently he's a better climber-upper than a scooter-downer because he loses his grip, slides down a branch and lands SPLAT! in a snowbank, 6 inches in front of CtWD's pointy nose.

I'm not sure how to describe the look on CtWD's face. The closest I can come is something like a stunned "Holy Crap! It's raining cats!"

Before CtWD regathered his mojo, Panther scooted around the corner and over the neighbor's fence. Good thing for CtWD; Panther woulda clawed his nose off.

But since the incident, I've noticed CtWD paying MUCH closer attention to the tree and its occupants. He circles warily, checks out the ivy patch underneath and all the branches he can see. Manna from heaven may not happen again in his lifetime but if it does, he's gonna be READY!

I'll bet the squirrels weren't at their usual posts cuz they were all fighting for the merriment's ringside seats. And I'll bet they're still laughing...

As am I.