The Color Yellow

by
Henri of Twin Brook

Yesterday was a very gloomy day. The sky was overcast. Not one ray of sunshine peeked through the clouds. Raymond Hazelwitz, rodent activist, had scratched at the computer room window. I pried the window open to let him in and together we gathered up some pillows from the living room and took them out to the deck.

Within minutes, Rumsfeld climbed the fence and joined us. Then Carlyle opened the back garden gate, ran across the yard to the deck and plopped himself down on one of the pillows. Within 90 minutes, Penelope came by, as did Max, the cat who lives next door, Frank the new feline in the neighborhood, and finally, Clarence, my buddy. He unlatched the back gate and walked through it as if he owned the world. "What a miserable day!" he groaned. "Not one ray of sunshine do I see! It is enough to make a cat go into hibernation!"

I shook my head. "Clarence," I meowed, "you know full well that cats do not go into hibernation. We should find something to do when it is a gloomy day, besides moan and groan about it!"

"Well," purred Penelope, "just suppose the sun was a bright green. I wonder what the earth would look like if sunshine was green instead of yellow." "I think that would be icky!" proclaimed Max. "Green trees, green sunshine, green grass, green everything. Ugh!"

Then Raymond stood up. "How about if everything was yellow? We would have yellow trees and yellow grass and all the flowers would be yellow and in the winter time, snow and ice would be yellow. Wouldn't that be fun?"

Helen my housemate opened the kitchen door and came out onto the deck. "I don't think the world around us would be very attractive if everything was tinted yellow. We need diversity in color, as we need diversity in everything we have and do! The color yellow is very attractive and every creature loves sunshine, except bats of course, but too much of one thing can get to be annoying, don't you know."

"How true!" chattered Raymond Hazelwitz. "you want to know
something? I think one of the most beautiful flowers is the dandelion! That is the purist form of yellow one can see in the wild. Yes, I know, everyone hates dandelions and does everything they can to get rid of them, but they are really a lovely flower if you look closely at its shape and delicate petals. Perhaps we should learn to respect the simple things of nature regardless of its color and shape. Or perhaps on a day such as this, we should all bow our heads and gather round for a few paws of poker! What do you think, guys?

"We all thought it was a great idea and I have now decided that when the day is gloomy and no big orb of yellow appears in the sky, that is the time when cats and rats gather around, snack on tuna patties and cracked corn and spend the day with rounds of poker and blackjack.

All was well with us toms that day, until Penelope and Helen beat the fur off of us! Oh well! Someday the sun will shine and the earth will be encased in a golden glow once again. Then I will go into the garden and pull some weeds and throw them on the compost pile, however, I will leave the dandelions alone.

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