"It's snowing, Macks," said Jake to his cat.
"Come sit by the fire. Snooze on your mat.
Just look out the window. It's too cold to play.
Let's ride my sled on a warmer day."

But Macks was too frisky to sit out the storm,
Feeling too squirmy to nap and keep warm.
With a twitch of his tail, he bombarded the door.
He yowled and howled and scratched at the floor.

"If you insist, then go outside."
Jake opened the door. He opened it wide.

Macks romped and he tromped in the falling snow.
He stalked a bird on tippy toe.
He followed a trail of mouse paw prints.
Then he jumped up on top of the fence.

That's when it happened – a little slip
Right off the gate with a backwards flip.
Macks scraped his nose and bonked his head
And landed tail-first on Jake's blue sled.

The sled slid forward. It started to slide.
The sled was now taking the cat for a ride.
It slid across the neighbor's yard,
Almost hit their St. Bernard,
Then skidded down the boulevard.
It swerved around the mailman's van,
Bumped into a garbage can,
And nearly caused a traffic jam.
It fishtailed on a patch of ice,
Spinning round a snowman twice.
Got tangled in some twinkle lights.
It coasted past a cookie shop and
Sped right through a four-way stop,
Approaching the edge of the mountaintop...

Then suddenly, sled and cat whooshed down the hill,
Swishing, whizzing faster till
They crashed and took a nasty spill.
A burst of snow, then all was still.

Macks' whiskers were frozen to his face
And every hair was out of place.
A pile of snow stood on his head.
His ears lay flat. His nose was red.

Macks barely made it through the door.
He wasn't feeling frisky anymore.
He snuggled up on Jake's warm lap.
And closed his eyes for a cozy nap.

It's snowing, Jake, he seemed to say.
Let's ride your sled on a warmer day.