The maxim drummed in my ear, a refrain that was indefensible. Over and over it revved in my brain, Once is a mistake. Twice is a pattern. Three times is a habit. And over and over I wondered why I never thought of it it until this week.
Why didn’t I include Smokey’s picture in my picture farm books? The last sentence of the last page of each book
reads, “She got the idea for this book while playing with her kitten, Smokey,
who was also born on the farm.” And below the line is a picture of my other
picture book, Little Copper Pennies for Kids. Not of Smokey.
Once.
In the English edition of Alphabet on The Farm,
K is for Kitten. Instead of the orange kitten, I could have used Smokey’s
picture. Twice.
Search Quotes (dot com) was relentless. “You can’t
make the same mistake twice. The second time you make it, it’s no longer a
mistake, it’s a choice. Deal with the
consequences!”
That was in 2104. When the French edition, L'alphabet à la ferme, was released this year, the
last sentence of the last page was the same, except in French.
Three
times.
In the
French edition, the letter C first featured Chevre (goat) but I immediately
thought that a kitten should be there and so “C comme Chaton” replaced the
Chevre and the little orange kitten smiled out of the page.
Four.
Wretched
me. Why wasn’t the chaton Smokey?
English Stack (dot com) further conspired against me, ably using the
second language to underscore my faux pas. “In French, there is the expression
"jamais deux sans trois" (literally: "never twice without a
third [time]").”
Except
I had eleven times to my credit if I considered the proofs. Oh la la! I did not possess the stop-before-the-habit-is-formed
gene so now I had to face the consequences.
My
feeble attempt to redeem my error to immortalize my cat in publishing is the
fact that today, June 17, he is appearing on CTV at a local branch in Yorkton
where I live. This video I intend to embed on YouTube. Another endeavor is a poster ordered from
Vistaprint which I will hang on a prominent wall in our house. On June 21 he
will attend the book launch of L'alphabet à la ferme at St. Henry’s Elementary
School in Melville, a French Immersion school. He has been invited to Christian
Club’s ladies meeting in August and I will take him.
Smokey
loves our garage and is staying there (and not in the house due to my
allergies) for his star appearances. A
double car garage all to himself and who knows for how long. Meanwhile, my
beloved CRV is parked in the open driveway, in thunderstorm and rain, at
risk to hail. The lawn tractor had been ousted to the back yard, with the
consolation of shelter of the cover of the barbecue grill that is too small for
it. And the grill and tank gets wet and dry alternately.
Once is a mistake. Twice
is a pattern. Three times is a habit. Eleven
must be for redemption.
Susan Harris is the author of nine books. Stories about
Smokey are featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul and in 10½ Sketches: Insights on Being Successful
Right Where You Are . The story of how Smokey became a house pet and inspired
Susan’s writings can be read in a free download of How Not to Kidnap a Cat
at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RNV3P10
5 comments:
It was nice to make that mental link to my birthplace, Yorkton. I always have a few regrets with my books. There's always something you wish you had done a little differently.
It's interesting (and neat) that David is Yorktonian!
Susan, thanks for sharing your thought-provoking points, along with your characteristic hint of humour. You took me back to my childhood and my favourite kitty - a black and white sweetheart also called Smokey! ~~+~~
What fine connections...a Yortonian (nice word, Peter) who also has regrets and another much-loved Smokey kitty. Thanks Gentlemen. Blessed to be in such distinguished company.
Poor rejected Smokey! I am thinking, though, that Smokey is of the forgiving sort. Sweet story, Susan. Maybe a photograph wouldn't have worked as well in your book, though. The cartoon character chaton is pretty cute! But then again, so is Smokey!
Smokey is such a hit with the children that he would have fitted well in the book, Glynis. I decided to include him in my upcoming Christmas books. That story was meant to be my blog article for July but Internet connections prevented a post so it will now be in August. Thank you for your encouragement.
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