Thoroughly Poetic Thankful Thimble Thursday

It will probably come as no surprise to many of you that we're kicking off this Thursday with the Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge, hosted by our pals Angel Sammy and Teddy.

As always, our fantastic hosts shared with us a photo prompt to help us in our poetic endeavors. This gorgeous shot here is the one they found for this week's poem:

Now, it's that time again when I try my darnedest to give you all some semblance of an explanation as to how I got from that beautiful photo up there, to my strange poem. So, when I saw that photo, the sight of such a beautiful collection of flowers immediately brought to my mind the Garden of Eden. As I've said before, I was born, raised, and still am Catholic, so these sorts of things tend to happen.

Anyway, fast forward to the first inhabitants of the Garden of Eden, and what then came to my mind was the story of Adam and Eve's first sons, Cain and Abel. Who knows this story? Long story short, Cain killed Abel out of jealousy, and then Cain retreated from Eden to the Land of Nod.

As a bit of bonus info, the Land of Nod is east of Eden, and this was the concept behind John Steinbeck's tale known as, that's right, East of Eden. Anyway. I digress. All I can say now is that all of these random thoughts somehow resulted in the weird and random poem below.

The Land of Cod

Once upon a time, there were two brothers.
The first was Carl and Alvin the other.
Both brothers lived in Tulip Town,
Where beautiful flowers bloomed all around.

But raising tulips was neither brother's forte.
No, gardeners they were not, nay.
Rather, both Carl and Alvin lived as farmers,
But their livestock was not the typical kind that was bartered.
Both Carl and Alvin lived by the sea,
And on their farms it was cod that they did oversee.

Each brother ran their own cod farm,
And the state of Alvin's brought Carl great alarm,
Not because Alvin's cod were sad and sickly,
But because they were strong and outgrew Carl's very quickly.

Competition was, after all, floating in the air,
And Carl did not find Alvin's fortune the least bit fair.
To Carl, it seemed that Alvin was always ahead,
And that far and wide Alvin's luck did spread.

Carl thought that Alvin's luck went far beyond cod farming,
For everyone also deemed Alvin as the one who was charming.
Alvin even boasted a face full of grand whiskers,
Which, compared to his brother's, were much, much thicker.
Alvin was oft even complimented on the teeth in his maw,
And even the nails on his hefty paws.

Alvin's cod farm success was just the icing on the cake.
It seemed to Carl that his brother could simply make no mistake.
As the time drew near for the brothers to sell their cod,
Prospective buyers gave Alvin nothing but applause.
Carl's cod, on the other hand, was deemed far too flawed.

And so Carl formed a plan,
And with that plan he ran.
Beneath the stars one night,
Carl tiptoed to Alvin's farm, staying out of sight.
He gathered up his brother's prize cod,
And then off of his brother's property he did plod.

To the market is where Carl took Alvin's fish.
Money and gain for himself was his only wish.
But Carl's foul deed fooled no one.
Everyone knew what he had done,
And Carl then learned what it was like to be shunned.

After weeks and weeks as the local pariah,
Carl decided to pay a visit to the town's wise man, Jeremiah.
Carl did not even have to say a word,
As the reason for his trip Jeremiah had already inferred.

Jeremiah gave Carl a few words of advice,
And was the only person who, towards Carl, acted nice.
Jeremiah told Carl, "Envy is a dangerous game.
And now you must figure out a way to rid yourself of the shame."
When Carl asked Jeremiah how, on earth, he could do that,
Jeremiah did nothing but point to a piece of a map.

When Carl examined the lay of the land,
Looking to where Jeremiah had pointed his hand,
He could not help but smile.
Jeremiah was indeed a man of great guile.
Jeremiah's advice Carl simply had to applaud,
For the old man had reminded him of the neighboring Land of Cod.

And so Carl formed yet another plan.
This one, he hoped, would not make him less of a man.
Carl packed up his things and hit the road.
He hoped he would be returning with a far heavier load.

After a great deal of time on the road,
When his feet were tired and his pace had slowed,
Carl finally reached the Land of Cod.
He could not help but rejoice and applaud.

Though he was tired and wished to hit the hay,
His plan Carl did not want to delay.
So to the shore he did walk,
Where he could not help but gawk.

They called it the Land of Cod for good reason.
For here the grandest of grand cod were always in season.
In the sun the waters appeared to be glowing,
And with cod were vastly overflowing.

Carl decided it was time to get his feet wet,
And so to the waters he set out with his net.
Fish so magnificent Carl had never before seen,
And straight into his net they did careen.
He wondered if the fish knew his plight,
And perhaps therefore put up not even an ounce of a fight.

And so that was how, before long,
Carl was back on the road, even singing a song.
When he returned to his home of Tulip Town,
Carl knew he would still be greeted with frowns.
Nevertheless, to his brother Alvin's farm is where he first went.
Carl hoped his brother would not slam the door on his advent.

Carl sighed with relief when Alvin did not turn him away,
Though his brother's face was quite unhappy and grey.
"I have for you a gift!" Calvin told his brother,
Who under his breath had began to mutter.

At Alvin's feet, Carl placed the fruit of the Land of Cod.
The fish were so many that they covered all of the sod.
"I stole from you," Carl had to admit,
"But with this, I hope to win your forgiveness, if you permit."

Carl then learned why others always met Alvin with favor,
For his brother's mercy did not waver.
Alvin happily accepted Carl's apology,
And even invited him in for some tea.
On that day Alvin asked Carl to help him farm his sea,
And from then on the brothers were a mighty team.

***

Thimble gets to show off some recent photos of herself now. To be honest, though, she's not terribly thrilled with these shots.

Thimble is quite unhappy with me when it comes to this photo shoot. You see, this here lazy human used the zoom on the camera rather than get up and get some close-up shots of Thimble's adorable face. Now, Thimble is certain that the zoomed camera added 10 lbs, and that makes this little kitty less than thrilled.

 

If only Thimble's human hadn't been so lazy, she wouldn't have to suffer such indignity.

To get her mind off of the indignity, though, Thimble is now participating in Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Thimble and all of us here are thankful that the temperatures here in our corner of the world are finally starting to rise. Though it has been raining some, our snow has melted away, and we do get to see some occasional sunshine.

What else are we thankful for? All of you, of course! We are so grateful to be part of such a wonderful and kind community.

Have a beautiful day, friends!

***

Our Tip of the Day:

We're of course here today with another National Pet Poison Awareness Month tip. Today, we're here to help you remember even the dirty details of keeping your kitty or pup safe. What we mean is, don't forget to keep your garbage can, dirty dishwasher, compost, and other similar areas safe against curious furbabies. Garbage cans, for example, might contain empty containers for potentially poisonous substances, such as detergents. The garbage can, dishwasher, or even compost might also contain the remnants of food that is toxic to a cat or dog. When it comes to the compost, or perhaps even the garbage can, moldy foods especially might be found within, and moldy food can contain mycotoxins, which are indeed toxic to our furbabies.

All in all, what we're trying to say is to never forget all of the details, no matter how dirty, for ensuring that your kitty or pup is free from any form of poisoning or other injury. Use garbage cans that are securely lidded or pet-proof in another way. You could even hide your garbage can in a cabinet, drawer, or room to which your furbaby cannot gain access. Also ensure that your dirty dishwasher remains securely closed, and that any compost you have is kept somewhere that your furbaby cannot reach. Even if a precaution seems like overkill, it's probably not. After all, when it comes to the health and safety of your furbaby, it is of course best to take no risks.