oelle the Cat, Weatherman

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

One of the first things that the Baron did each morning at his office in Lilliland Castle was to read the weather report for that day and the next few days. Many of Baron’s activities rely on a favorable report.

In his office is a large window that overlooks the lake, and it is always a grand view. His cat, a Coon Cat named Noelle, because she was a gift at Christmastime some years ago, was asleep in the room and rarely left the Baron’s office. It was a very large room so many people never noticed the presence of Noelle. The Baron watched the cat all the time for a special reason.

The cat was usually seated on the large windowsill or next to the fireplace or somewhere in between. The Baron noticed that when the official weather report said it was going to be a clear sunny day, the cat sat on the windowsill and when stormy weather was in the forecast, the cat seemed to know well in advance and moved closer to the fireplace. If it was not going to be a sunny or stormy day, the cat sat on the sofa half way between.

The Baron did not want to share this information about the cat’s success rate in forecasting the weather, but he finally told his chief advisor, Professor Hamblin, to double check the accuracy of the cat with regard to the weather forecasts. Lady Angela was also told and thought that the cat was very perceptive.

One day, the Baron and Lady Angela planned a mountain trip. Before the trip, the Baron looked at the cat to see where she had positioned herself. While the Baron watched, the cat moved over closer to the fireplace. The Baron didn’t know what to think at first but then called Lady Angela and started to say that the trip to the mountains should be postponed because the cat thought it was not a good idea. But the Baron decided not to say that in fear of what people would think if they ever heard that. The Baron said instead that he was going to have a private party with Lady Angela that afternoon.

The Baron and Lady Angela had a private party next to the warm fire in the castle and watched as a very unexpected storm came up blowing down trees in the mountains where the Baron had planned on going. The Baron thought how lucky he was to have little Noelle as a fine weathercat to watch over him.