Caturday Art With a Rhyme on the Side

It's time for Athena's Caturday Art Blog Hop!

I mentioned a couple days ago that today's doodle would be a bit different than our usual Caturday Art drawings, because today's is an illustration for this week's poem. We usually post our poems and their illustrations on Thursdays, the day of Angel Sammy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge. This week, however, Christmas festivities changed our schedule a tad bit. That's why we have our poem and its illustration today. We'll do things a bit different than usual this time around and we'll share our poem's illustration before we share the poem itself.

Now, let's backtrack and remind everyone how this poetic fun works. On Thursdays, Angel Sammy hosts the Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge.

Each week, our host shares a photo prompt to help guide our poetic endeavors. The photo prompt for this past week was this beautiful winter image here:

Given that I celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas, and that today is only the Fourth Day of Christmas, I of course wanted this week's poem to still be all shades of festive. So, if you're looking for some continued Christmas vibes, feel free to read the silly and exceedingly long rhyme below.

Once Upon a Christmas Eve

Once upon a Christmas Eve,

Santa found himself in a predicament quite risky.

It all started well, his sleigh loaded with toys and gifts of all kinds.

In order to deliver them, he simply could not fall behind.

Santa readied Rudolph and the other reindeer right on time,

Making sure they were well fed and properly in line.

Rudolph's nose was wonderfully red and aglow,

And right on time Santa and his sleigh were ready to go.

"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer. Now, Prancer and Vixen!"

Santa called to each reindeer, and of course they did listen.

Each and every one knew exactly what they were meant to do,

And with Santa and his sleigh into the sky they flew.

They dashed through the sky faster than fast.

Santa delivered gift after gift and joyfully laughed.

That is, until the sleigh made a strange sort of motion,

And suddenly they were plummeting straight toward an ocean.

Rudolph and the other reindeer pulled the sleigh as fast as they could.

They missed the ocean by many miles, but then crash landed in some woods.

With the help of a little Christmas magic,

No one was left injured in a manner even remotely tragic.

Santa, his reindeer, and even the gifts were unharmed.

The sleigh, though, its condition left Santa quite alarmed.

Nothing Santa or the reindeer did would lift the sleigh off the ground.
It refused to budge, instead insisting on remaining snowbound

Santa let out a great sigh and then stood and looked around.

They had landed in a snowy forest of trees,

With not much else around to be seen.

Then, though, Santa caught sight of smoke.

From a chimney it came, that he did know.
Santa smiled and clapped as he said, "Now I recognize this place very well.
I believe everything will now be perfectly fine and swell."

Santa then told the reindeer to stay right where they were,
And that he'd hurry back in a bounce and a blur.

Just like that, Santa found the house with the chimney smoke.
Out front stood a rather friendly sort of bloke.
The fellow waved and laughed as he said,
"Santa, is that you, my dear old friend?"

Santa waved back and said, "Ho ho ho!
I'm glad to know you're still a believer in me, Joe."
Joe replied, "Of course I'm a believer, Santa!
I'm you're biggest believer here in the great land of Montana."

Joe clapped and added, "Santa, you brought young me my very first kitten.
All these years later, I'm now on my fifth and sixth cats, Socks and Mittens."
He pointed up at the windows of his house.
Joe said, "My cats are inside, and neither is as quiet as a mouse.
If you look through those windows you'll see right where they are.
They're each climbing their own Christmas tree, right up to the stars."

Santa waved at Socks and Mittens and let out a jolly laugh.
He said, "On this year's nice list, Joe, are both you and your cats.
In order to deliver your gifts, though, I have a favor to ask,
But only if you're up for a tad bit of a task."

"I'm more than happy to help you, Santa!" Joe declared.
And so Santa asked, "Do you still have that sleigh I brought you last year?"
Joe of course still had that festive sleigh he loved so dear,
A fact that Santa was beyond happy to hear.

Santa explained to Joe his current situation,
How his sleigh was now stuck in its current location.
Santa and Joe made a quick yet efficient plan,
And to his barn over yonder Joe quickly ran.

After a short bit of time he emerged with a sleigh pulled by a horse.
The sleigh was red like Santa's and festively decked, of course.
Even the horse pulling the sleigh looked more than festive,
Donning a red blanket and a wreath quite impressive.
Joe introduced the friendly horse as Gus,
Who was more or less the size of a bus.

Just like that, Gus pulled Santa and Joe in the sleigh,
And off to the location of Santa's crash they dashed away.
They found the stalled sleigh and the reindeer in no time at all.
When Rudolph saw them, he could not hide the fact that he was appalled.

"I know what you're thinking, Rudolph," Santa did say.
"To answer your question, yes, a horse can also pull Santa in a sleigh."
Rudolph shook his head and let out a grunt.
The red-nosed reindeer never thought he'd witness such as stunt.

The plan Santa and Joe formed was really quite simple.
Santa's reindeer would be hooked up to Joe's sleigh to get them out of this pickle.
A little Christmas magic would make this unbroken sleigh fly just fine,
And all of the children's gifts would still be delivered just in time.

And so that was how they proceeded.
Just like that, the reindeer were lined up and Santa was seated.
Gus whinnied in excitement as he watched the whole thing happen.
Even Rudolph couldn't help but feel the same sort of excitement.
They were finally back on track on that Christmas Eve night.
They were finally ready to return to the sky on their festive flight.

"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!"
Santa again called out to his reindeer, and again they did listen.
Joe's sleigh could now fly,
And it lifted off right up into the sky.

Santa waved at Joe and Gus below.
He laughed and said, "Ho ho ho!"
Leaving gifts for Joe, Socks, Mittens, and of course Gus was the first stop of this flight.
Then they continued on as Santa bellowed, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Merry Fourth Day of Christmas!

***

Tip of the Day

We've started a series of tips on how you can assist strays and ferals during the cold winter months. Today's tip regards feeding strays and ferals, and it is to make sure you understand the pros and cons of feeding dry versus moist food during the winter months. Dry food often takes more energy than moist food to digest, and animals need to conserve as much energy as possible to stay warm in the winter. However, that being said, moist food that is not immediately eaten can freeze during the winter months due to its high moisture content. For this reason, it is typically best to ensure that dry food is offered to strays and ferals in the winter months, as it will not freeze and therefore will be readily available even after sitting out for some time. All in all, though, it is possible and often beneficial to feed both dry and moist food to outdoor strays and ferals. Tomorrow we will further discuss how to successfully feed moist food to strays and ferals in the winter.