All of the cats suddenly lift their heads, perk up their ears, and dash to the western window sill (ample to hold all cats, even the plump calico) and twitch their tails joyfully as a yellow-bellied sapsucker taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaps its way up a nearby tree. Then to the cats' delight, two grackles begin a tussle over a shredded but sturdy piece of paper as each vies for good nesting materials.

Ack ack ack ack ack akc! is the throaty noise heard from the cats.

Sage thinks to herself Too bad the human activity in here seems to be all quiet and genteel. It's much more amusing when the sap starts flowing and a few couples can be observed to slink off to dark corners or disappear through doorways into the night. The christmas tree is outta here, but maybe we should bring in a Maypole pretty soon. That might get people moving!