THE CAT SIDE: Cat’s Gone Country Over Full Lake

Gather ’round the fire buckaroos. It’s camp cookie Boat Dock here to lead a little sing-along that’ll have you grinning from whisker to whisker.

We could all use a little cheering up what with all this rain. Enough already.

This tom cat is plum waterlogged. Has it been 40 days and 40 nights yet?

Where am I? In the Ozark National Rain Forest?

Everyone knows the monsoons have filled my big federal water dish, Beaver Lake, close to brimfull. A few campsites are underwater. A couple of boat ramps are closed. It’s a pain for everybody.

Most importantly, it’s a pain for me, Boat Dock.

How can I drink up when the shoreline looks like the woolly swamp. How about we stock the lake with ’gators and open up a shoe factory?

To cheer you all up, I put together this little ditty the last time Beaver Lake filled up. I’m wearing my Stetson and my furry chaps so how about we sing it around the campfire right now? How about it?

I call it “So Much Water” and we’ll sing it to the melody of that Western classic, “Cool Water” by the Sons of the Pioneers.

So you all can be the Sons of Boat Dock. Being chief tom cat, I’ll do the verses and you chime in when we come to the little chorus.

I’ve written it in capital letters to make it easy on your noggins.

Instead of singing, “Clear, cool water,” like the Sons, you sing my words that are much more clever.

Give me a second while I pull my Tom Mix cowboy hat down over my ears and fire up this old six-string.

OK, here’s the song. A one, and a two:

Every single place, out on Beaver Lake, you know, there’s lots of water. SO MUCH WATER.

(Sounding good!)

The rain’s been comin’ down, in the cities and the towns, enough to drown an otter. SO MUCH WATER.

It wasn’t on their minds, but some folks woke up to find, the yards they used to own are under water. HIGH LAKE WATER.

(Next verse.) The Texans always want all this water we have got. I wish they’d come and get it. ALL THIS WATER.

California is so dry, people look up in the sky, and pray for precious water.

FALLING WATER.

Now listen to this pitch ’cos it’s gonna make us rich.

Let’s pipe it through a hose and start selling all this water. BOTTLED WATER.

SO MUCH WATER.

Mighty fi ne there cowpokes, mighty fine.

We’re all truly legends in our own minds.

BOAT DOCK IS FELINE OUTDOOR COLUMNIST, AND NOW CHIEF CROONER, AT NWA MEDIA. HIS COLUMNS APPEAR WHEN HE FEELS LIKE WRITING ONE. WRITE TO BOAT DOCK ON FACEBOOK.

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