Serene Scenery ... Umm ... Wait a Minute ...

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave.  I was all prepared to bring you some serene pictures to help you relax on this beautiful Sunday morning -- you know, like a pic of a Day Lily:

Our Aunt Janet sent us the seeds for that one. Isn't it pretty? She also sent us this Butterfly Weed:

It's even bigger than that now; that picture is a week or so old. Then I thought, "How about a sky shot?" So I have this:

Wooooo! Mammatus Clouds from one of our very stormy evenings. Those clouds are really cool, but usually are associated with really bad weather. You know, like thunder and lightning and hail and tornados and Dad telling Mom to stop taking pictures and get in the house and stuff like that.  That didn't seem too serene at all.  So then I thought maybe I'd post a picture of Zim at the Kansas Ocean!

"Sing to me, Froggie Friends!"

SO... I showed Zim how nice that picture came out and how nice and serene he looked and he said, "We don't have time for 'Serene Scenery Sunday' this week, Dave! Hambone needs my help!!!"

What?  Who is ... then I remembered.  Zim's bestest friend Huffle Mawson's brother - Teddy.  Huffle and Teddy didn't get along too well when they first adopted Teddy... maybe still not now, in fact ...  and Zim's been trying to help out.  Zim thought that if Teddy had a cool nickname, maybe she'd like him better.  Knowing how much Huffs LOVES ham... Zimmie dubbed Teddy "Hambone"!  I think it must be doing some good, because I've actually seen a picture of Huffs and Hambone together.  Anyway, let me sign off for now and pass the keyboard on over to Zim!

Thanks, Dave; I'll take it from here!  I got a message from my mancat pal Hambone on our blog!  He said, "Zimmie, lately I have been hearing that 'nonoTeddyNO!' thing a lot.  Can you tell me what it means please?"  I let him know I'd research the issue ... THEN I received a most distressing  email from him last night my time, so that's morning time in Australia, saying in part, "I am writing to you from the depths of the garage, where I was banished at 7am today because mum and dad were trying to sleep in and I wanted everyone to get up and play. I heard that nonoTeddyNO thing so many times so I can't wait to hear what you found out."  (I'm choosing to ignore the part of his email where he mentions chasing Huffle and biting her on the ear.  Teddy!) 

I thought long and hard about this.  I mean, sure I've heard things like "nonoZimmieNO!" and similar stuff plenty of times ... but honestly - it's usually associated with me doing something incredibly fun, so I think it must be my mom's way of cheering me on.  I've never heard the word "nonoTeddyNO!" so I had to do some research.  I had to go to someone who's older and wiser.  I checked with Dave, but he'd never heard it, either.  I didn't know who else to turn to ... and that's when Dave told me about an old friend in Mom's Studio!  There's someone in there, usually high up on a shelf or guarding the inside of the fabric closet, but who is sometimes allowed to come do some airing out.  Someone who met Mom before us, before any of our great sisters or great brother -- before DAD even!!!  And grab this - Dave said he was getting some fresh air yesterday!  I had to meet him -- to seek his wisdom on this matter!

Pups and kit-cats... I'd like you to meet ... Ted!

Ted.  Born c. 1965, Detroit, Michigan.

I KNOW!!!  How perfect is it that his name is TED?!?!?  If anyone would know the meaning of "nonoTeddyNO!" it would be a fellow named Ted - right?!!?

He came out into the main part of the Studio to watch Mom work, and I approached him.

"Excuse me, Ted?  I come seeking your wisdom on a most puzzling matter!"

I approached him slowly and respectfully; he seemed to appreciated that, as he didn't try to run off or anything.  We shared a long, intimate chat about Teddy/Hambone's query; wow, is Ted is a good listener!  I told him all about Huffle and Auntie Trace and Hambone ... then asked him the big question:

"What's it all mean, Ted?"

Ted was silent for a good long while.  Finally, he said that in all of his years (let's just put him in the "over 40" crowd) he's never heard the term "nonoTeddyNO!"  He double-checked with a Koala that lives in the Studio, just to make sure it isn't an Australian slang term, and the Koala had never heard of it either.

The conclusion we all reached, Hambone, is that it's very similar to "nonoZimmieNO!" and that it's some kind of cheer your bipeds do when you're having fun.  It's their way of encouraging you!  Kind of like that "Aussie!  Aussie!  Aussie!  Oi!  Oi!  Oi!" thing.  Just to be on the super-safe side, though ... you might want to consider officially changing your name to "Hambone".

I hope that helps!  Keep it serene, everyone!

Play bows and luv,
Zim and Dave

 PS:  And seriously, Auntie Trace?  Anything past 0500 is sleeping in!  Trust me!