The Cat Came Back…

My little guy’s ears perked up when he heard me singing this song the other day. At the the time I could not figure out how on earth it got into my head, now it makes sense.

Zoom.

Before 2020, all things Zoom were about a group of spectacularly cool (and a bit nerdy) tweens. Hanging out, creating, questioning, just experiencing life in their stripey shirts and bare feet. Kids I could relate to…no doe-eyed, smirky Laurie Partridge…no self-centered tiny skirt wearing Marcia…normal kids who wore jeans with patches and could use a good hair brushing.

There was just an article about the 50th anniversary of the Zoom TV show somewhere. The producers wanted a show like Sesame Street and Electric Company about kids just being kids…for kids. Skits, Zoom Dos, Fannee Doodles, Ubbi Duubi, guests, games, and poetry. Viewers were invited to participate, our thoughts counted…they wanted to hear from US…we knew their zip code by heart! 0 2 1 3 4….empowering.

I was in 4th grade or so when I received one of my favorite childhood possessions…The Zoom Catalog. I read, reread, and read it again. I acted out the plays with friends, and played the games (Statues anyone), I read the poems and felt my feels…bonding with strangers who somehow were just like me. The book was literally used to death, first the cover came off, then the spine broke in two, then three, then there were just lose pages. I think my fear of perfect binding came from my Zoom book being destroyed by my loving it too much. I always warn my clients…perfect binding is not for a book that will be used and loved.

I needed The Zoom Cataglog in my life again…and Ebay provided. Thankfully not everyone else in the world had the same urge, paying only triple the 3.00 price on the cover, I scored, some people just don’t understand the value of a good book.

Skimming it was so odd, it was incredible how many of my childhood experiences came from Zoom. Spinning friends around and around on the grass, letting go, then watching them fly through the air to fall into frozen statues. Always a cheater or two who clearly had their statue planned I’m a bowler…sorry dude, you did not “fall” in a bowling pose. Making pressed flowers in my grandmothers huge bible. Waiting for days then carefully unwrapping the flower shaped stained newspaper to unveil the flowers…beautifully stiff in their new flat form. Sigh, flipping through childhood was fun and then there it was…The Cat Came Back...the whole song.

The article had fired up the Zoom archives in my brain, and one morning as our cat walked into the room where my little guy was eating…I started singing the song. Now he asks me to sing it daily, and since I only remembered the refrain I showed him the animated videos online. It turns out one of the videos was a favorite of my Olivia, who renewed it from the library repeatedly…a joyful memory for her. Remembering and sharing…it’s so very good.