Thoroughly Poetic Thankful Thimble Thursday

Sorry for posting so late in the morning! I've been having a battle with my computer, with my internet, with my scanner, and all that jazz. Some days, technology and I just don't see eye to eye. But, here we finally are, hopefully better late than never.

So, happy Thursday! We're first of all here to rhyme. Thanks to Angel Sammy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday, we get to do so every week.

As always, our host shared a photo prompt to guide us as we get poetic. This week's photo prompt is this scenic image here:

I've never had a balcony, but the view from one must be nice. If I did have a balcony, I would love nothing more than to get cozy in front of a good view, with a good book and of course with a kitty or two. Actually, that very thought gave me the idea for the poem I'm sharing to today. If you're wondering how I went about this, feel free to read on.

The Battle on the Balcony

Bethany happily moved into her new place.

Making it feel like home became a race.

Her favorite part of the new house was the balcony,

Which offered a view that was really quite pretty.

There were already great plans for the balcony in Bethany's mind,

And so just the right moving boxes she searched for and did find.

These boxes contained every last one of her books.

After all, she wished to turn the balcony into a reading nook.

The room adjacent to the balcony was lined with shelves,

Which Bethany lined with books numbering at least twelve times twelve.

She placed a chair on the balcony,

The perfect place for a cozy session of reading.

While Bethany prepared the balcony and the books,

From her cat she received lots of help, and a couple dirty looks.

The cat was the best friend of Bethany.

It was an orange tabby named Persephone,

Despite the name, he was actually a boy,

As a kitten he'd hid his gender, quite coy.

Persephone was never one to slack.
When she worked, his supervision Bethany never lacked.
As she lined her bookshelves, Persephone surveyed the scene.
He even hopped onto the shelves and with his paw helped some books careen.

On the balcony Bethany placed her favorite cozy chair.
At it, Persephone tilted his head and stared.
"Now don't you dare take my seat," Bethany told him.
"Here, I'm placing your favorite pillow right next to it."

Bethany straightened a few things and then wished for a break.
On the balcony with some books that break she did take.
She settled in her chair and began to read.
Persephone at first settled on his pillow, yes indeed.

After a while, though, Persephone sat up and looked about.
On his face was something along the lines of a pout.
He left the balcony and returned to the shelves just inside.
Onto a top shelf he jumped and proceed to throw books down from side to side.

"Persephone, what are you doing?" Bethany said.
From the doorway to the balcony peeked her head.
She asked Persephone, "Did you really need to do that?"
Jumping down and leaving the scene was the reply of the cat.

Bethany picked up the books and returned them to the shelf.
When she returned to the balcony, she was beside herself.
"You did that on purpose," she said at the sight in front of her.
Persephone was now curled up in her chair, offering her a purr.

Bethany smiled at the cat as she said, "You're lucky you're cute.
If you weren't, I'd tell you to scoot."
Wishing to continue story time on the balcony,
She sat on Persephone's pillow and continued reading.

In truth, this became a daily battle.
Persephone was never open for a haggle.
Bethany could beg and offer all the pillows and cat beds in the world.
Persephone would simply curl up in her chair and happily snore.

And so, that's how Bethany lost the battle on the balcony.
Every day, she wound up sitting on a pillow to read.
In the end, she really didn't mind so much, though.
After all, on the chair Persephone was a happy fellow,
And she could still read on the balcony as the wind did blow.

This is usually where I share the illustration for my poem, but it appears I'm overdue for an issue with the scanner I use to share my doodles. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I've not been having the best of times with technology. So, since my scanner is acting up and doesn't want to scan my illustration, I'll share a bookish flashback doodle here instead. I've chosen one not only starring books, but also of course a cat. The only thing it's missing is the balcony aspect, but let's pretend the window in the doodle leads to a balcony, shall we?

I'll perform some of the usual tests and tricks to get my scanner up and going again, and then we'll share the bookish balcony doodle starring Persephone the mancat in the next day or two. I guess I'll thank my scanner, and all of technology, for always keeping me on my toes.

***

Thursday of course means it's time for Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Thursday is Thimble's day to star on the blog, and so of course she has a thankful to share for today.

Thimble shared a selfie similar to this on Sunday. In that selfie, that teddy bear was lurking in the background. At first that annoyed Thimble, but then she realized that she's grateful she's cuter than any ol' teddy bear.

Thimble says you ain't got nothing on her, teddy bear.

Happy Thursday to all!

***

Last but not least, how about the fill-in statements for tomorrow's Friendly Fill-Ins challenge? Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.


1. I would like to improve my _________ skills.

2. My _________ is _________.

3. My current to-do list includes _________.

4. I finally _________.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

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Tidbit of the Day

Today's tidbit relating to COVID-19 and our furbabies is more of just a little factoid. Did you know that scientists have been tracking and studying which species are most likely to contract the novel coronavirus? Obviously, humans are the most likely. Though far less likely than humans, cats are one of the other most likely animals to contract it, which we've already discussed. After all, though few and far between, there are cases of house cats and tigers, for example, contracting COVID-19. Dogs are far less likely to be affected by the novel coronavirus. Can you guess some of the other species of animals that have at least one case of COVID-19? Ferrets and minks would be two correct guesses. All in all, though, as we've mentioned before, humans are the most likely to get COVID-19. What's more, animals are not very likely to pass it to humans. Humans are more likely to pass it on to another animal, though even that is not terribly common.