1.  Cold.

2.  Snow.

So, here at Casa Furry Bambino, that means two other things.

a)  I, Panda Bear, try to get outside to frolic in the snow.

b)  Mom and Dad try to keep me from getting outside and frolicking in the snow.

In order to get outside to frolic in the snow, I attempt to seize every opportunity I can.  This involves pretending to be all “Hi Welcome Home from Wherever You People Go Now Outta My Way I Want Out The Front Door”.  This method results in success only rarely.  Mom and Dad are on to me.  They do this elaborate dance when they come in the front door that should qualify them to be on the next iteration of River Dance.

The other opportunity is once daily when Mom or Dad opens the back door to feed the squirrels and birdies.

By the way, we haven’t seen chipmunks in awhile.  Does anyone know, do chipmunks hibernate?  Do they have time shares in Florida?  Be right back.

OK, I asked my good friend Google who is a real know it all.  Chipmunks DO hibernate! But I digress.

As I was saying, so I get this great opportunity to make my move when Mom or Dad has the back door open to toss peanuts and seed to the outdoor critters.  Cookie thought about it today, too.

So tdoay, after several minutes of plotting, I made my move.

Woo-hoo!!!  Outside!  I’m Outside!!!

Yeah, so OK, the snow is cold on my feet.  But I’m Outside!!!

I had a great time digging in the snow!

I enjoyed the sights, smells, and textures while exploring this morning.  Check out these wicked cool icicles hanging from the roof and power lines.

But for some reason, Mom grabbed me and hauled me back inside when I walked past the door on my way to the back yard.

Oh, well, there’s always tomorrow!

However, the snow that we got last weekend was not lake effect snow. Lake Erie is mostly frozen over now, and the snow came from the south. Other Ohio cities, such as Cincinnati and Columbus, also got record amounts of snow. Unlike our neighbors to the south, communities in the Cleveland area have large fleets of snow removal equipment. Within a day of the snow stopping, things were pretty much back to normal. However, in parking lots, there continue to be residual MOUNDS of snow, six or more feet deep, where the snow was plowed to make room to park cars.

Panda Bear Here:
Last weekend, we gots lots and lots of snow. Here at Casa Caban, we got about two feets of snow by the time the it stopped snowing late Saturday night. Mommy and Daddy stayed inside most of the day and played with us! Twice, they opened the front door and let us walk around on the front porch.

It was so much fun! I dug in the snow, and bit it and ate some of it.

I enjoyed myself very much. Here I am taking a leisurely stroll on the porch.

It took Mom and Dad many, many hours to dig out the driveway and the-room-that-moves. It became the-room-that-doesn’t-move. This is what it looked like before they started digging. It’s almost invisibubble:

Mommy said that she could not lift her arms above her shoulders for the rest of the week. We think that she is a wuss.

Of course, Mommy made sure to feed the beaver squirrels and the birds (the ones that did not fly south, like the blue jays and snowbirds).

We enjoyed watching the blue jays and squirrels out the big tall windows. Do you like our stalking technique? The snow was so deep that we could use it to hide behind, so the blue jay wouldn’t see us.

Even though it was fun to play in the snow, we are very grateful to be indoor kitties! See how deep the snow was?

These are my footy prints in the snow:

OK. The snow was fun. But it can go away now. When will Spring get here?! Mom keeps saying that she is “OVER the snow already”.

… Somewhere My Love …

… There are birds that sing …

… But there is no sign of spring here in Northeast Ohio!

OK. The picture of the kitty on the wall with all the little blocks says that today is March 1st. We still have lots and lots of snow here! Mommy says that the snow the other day reminded her of some guy named Dr. Zhivago. I don’t get humans sometimes. Why would snow make her think of a V-E-T?

A few days ago, Mommy opened the back door to throw peace offerings to the big fat beaver squirrels, and to the tiny little snowbirds, and to the bluejays. Mmmmm, blue jays, now I’m getting hungry just telling you this story. Anyway, I got to sniff and eat and play in the snow a little bit. Then Mommy picked me up by the scruff of my neck and hauled me back inside.

Next, Meerkat got to sniff and eat and play in the snow for a little while, and then Mommy grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and hauled her back inside too.

We had a great time! Mommy said that the snow was too cold and too deep for us to play in, but it sure was fun while it lasted!!