Any tale involving a cat makes the Prowler's ears perk up, especially when we cats get blamed for unsavory behavior. It seems that the Los Gatos Parent Nursery School didn't have a sandbox for a long time because the neighborhood cats couldn't resist using it for a--well, for a sandbox. Thanks to a cover, the kids are able to enjoy the feeling of sand on their paws. As for the cats? They're campaigning the Town Council for some spiffy JCDecaux sandboxes as part of the downtown streetscape plan.
We cats weren't the only neighbors the school had to put up with. A former next-door neighbor used to get really steamed about the kids bouncing on the springboard in the playground. He complained about the noise, and when the kids' balls flew over the fence, he refused to give them back. Never mind, St. Mary's School is the neighbor now, and they know about kids.
They don't have the fire bell scaring the kids out of their saddle shoes any more, either.
Accustomed as this cat is to modern life, it's hard to imagine that in the 1950s, parents could load the kids in the car for a field trip without worrying about car seats and safety belts. Those moms did learn to count noses, though. That's because one frisky little tiger got left behind at Vasona. He was so busy playing (in a sandbox, perhaps?) that he didn't hear the summons to go back to school.
Another toddler who spent his early days at the nursery school was Chris Benson, of C.B. Hannegan's, who boasts, "I had the biggest, reddest tricycle." He also claims he gained extra protein by sucking on the tanbark in the playground. His mother, Jimmie Dawson, says he was unique even then.
Among other scoops the Prowler picked up hanging around the school recently is the real identify of Mrs. Claus, but she begs that we keep that under our whiskers for now.
Oh well. Back to the sandbox.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, May 1, 1996.
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