I purred with delight as a particular sound sent my stomach rumbling before my cat ears placed the musical notes this week. As I lounged across a warm sill at The Bee, I heard birds singing in chorus rather than the individual twitter that generally breaks the winter chill. With the greater number of birds adding to the sing-song and chirping, I see the signs of spring that arrives March 21. A few fluttering wings in particular are a giveaway. Are those downy feathers around the birdbath from a robin? The robin has his unofficial status as the avian harbinger of spring.

Unfortunately, I was born curious and I thought that a trip around the Internet wouldn’t kill this cat. I looked up those more-than-welcome winged envoys of spring. Learner.org has the answers. First, the site clears up any uncertainties about how to tell the first robin of spring from the last robin of winter. The answer? There is no one single moment when a robin changes from a wintering bird to a migrant. Winter and migratory behaviors include feeding in flocks, eating fruit, flying in flocks, getting along peacefully…until my catty shadow falls across their circle!

Spring robin behaviors include running on lawns, eating worms, singing, territorial battles, and carrying nesting materials. Well, the singing has roused me from more than one catnap since Monday’s snow. But with New England weather like ours, we might see the bird’s behavior change. One day a robin may be eating worms and singing, and a spell of bad weather reappears to sends that robin into winter-mode once again.

I can imagine myself sitting on the edge of my seat, mesmerized by the sharp rhetoric as I weigh the evidence at the trial. But alas, the C.H. Booth Library is looking for white males over the age of 25 to serve as jurors during the April 28 presentation of the mock trial theatrical event based on To Kill A Mockingbird, the NewtownREADS selection. And it seems that smart, black cats don’t meet their needs.

That Booth Library is up to all kinds of fun nonsense to celebrate its 75th anniversary and the NewtownREADS event. Local artist Joanne Keane has come up with a ham costume — that’s right; read the book — for small fry to borrow and wear around town. So if you see a Ham On The Street (with apologies to local producer Craig Rogers and The Food Network) the next few weeks, it is not just your overactive imagination. And if you are a second through seventh grader (or a very small adult) who can ham it up, call the library at 426-4533 to borrow the costume.

I join with Jay Rotweil and all the many friends of Brendajo Locke in hoping for her quick recovery and departure from the cardiac intensive care unit and the cardiac step-down unit at the Danbury Hospital. Get well soon, Brendajo!

For all those Newtown High alums looking for information on reunions and old classmates, a new website exists. Visit newtownalumniclass.com to search for old classmates, get info on upcoming reunions, complete a reunion survey, look for a lost class ring, or check out the “Wall of Fame” photos, among other things.

Sandy Hook landlord Mike Proco is looking for a name for the band shell located just off of Glen Road near Mocha Coffee House. The band shell will be the summer site of the C.H. Booth summer concert series, so the library is hoping that residents will put on their thinking caps and come up with a catchy appellation for the outdoor concert venue. Call Kim Weber at 426-4533 to put in your two cents worth. How about The Cat’s Cradle?

A note came in this week from Lisa Krafick Oorlog, who wanted to make sure we knew about some good news concerning her brother. Tom Krafick, who grew up in Newtown and attended NHS, has been promoted to the rank of captain with Redondo Beach (Calif.) Police Department, of which he has been a member since 1988. Tom began his career with Newtown Police Department in 1984. Since his move out to the West Coast, he has worked a variety of positions as a Redondo Beach Police Officer, including assignment to the Patrol Unit, Pier Unit, Traffic Unit, and a brief assignment with the Special Investigations Unit. He has also held ancillary assignments with the Gang Enforcement Team, the DARE program, and the Special Weapons and Tactics Team. Then as a lieutenant, he served as the Patrol Division “A” Commander and as the SWAT Commander. Captain Krafick is pursuing his master’s degree in emergency services administration at California State University at Long Beach. He and his wife and their twin children live in Redondo Beach. Lisa pointed out that while he was working in Newtown, her brother held the record in DUI arrests during his stay at the Newtown PD and, she said, “it’s interesting to note that we grew up next door to the current Newtown PD Operations Lieutenant, Jim Mooney.”

ARTSport Teen Theatre Company’s production of A Thurber Carnival will help raise funds for Canine Advocates of Newtown, which recently surpassed the $100,000 mark in its fundraising for a new animal shelter in Newtown. Thurber’s ties to Connecticut are strong, having lived in Sandy Hook in the early 1930s and later in West Cornwall. His love of dogs is reflected in many of his cartoons. With this in mind, Kate Katcher, education director of ARTSport at Playhouse on the Green and a Sandy Hook resident (and a dog-lover), brought the two groups together. When ARTSport performs A Thurber Carnival at Playhouse on the Green in Bridgeport later this month, $5 of each ticket will directly benefit Canine Advocates. Performances will be Friday and Saturday, March 23–24, at 7:30 pm; and Sunday, March 25, at 3 pm. Tickets are $15 each and can be reserved by calling 203-333-3666.

The dogs are getting support on another front, as well. The Bowl & Soup fundraiser organized by high school art teacher Carol Pelligra and culinary teacher Brian Neumeyer has raised $500 for Canine Advocates. Art students created the stone- and earthenware bowls and culinary students cooked up the delicious soups to fill them.

With warmer weather just ahead in April, May, and June, maybe this is the time to thing about a new boat — and, of course, a boat name. The most popular boat name in 2006, according to BoatU.S., was Aquaholic, the second time it has occupied the top spot and the fifth straight year it has appeared in the top ten. Others on the top ten list were, in order, Second Wind, Reel Time, Hakuna Matata, Happy Hours, Knot Working, Life is Good, Plan B, Second Chance, and Pura Vida.

Vida Pura. Doesn’t that mean a life of purring? Anyway, one sure way to keep me purring is to…

Read me again.