Once Upon A Time...

Once upon a time there was an adooooooooorable kitten who got SO worked up while figuring out which flavors of sorbetto he should pair in his piccolo cup that a walrus and a firefighter had to give him some oxygen and soothing words to calm him down. The kitten was frightened at first but the gentle firefighter calmed him and suggested he try a seasonal flavor or two since they'd be gone sooner than the rest. The walrus agreed and ordered a cup for the kitten and sat with him while he gobbled it up.

Well, little did they all know, an esteemed AWARD-giver was sitting in the cafe and saw the whole thing go down. The firefighter was called off to another emergency (involving bacon and a baby otter this time) so the walrus was the surprised recipient of the Bowl-of-Fish crown, awarded to true heroes who give straight from the heart. The Bowl-of-Fish CROWN! I know! Amazing! The walrus was incredibly humbled, and a wee bit embarrassed and hid his face as the award-giver presented the exciting crown to him. The walrus insisted that the crown be shared with the firefighter, but the award-giver assured the walrus that he would recognize the heroic actions of the firefighter with a separate award of endless skittles and pints of Bacio gelato.

The firefighter who had rushed to the bacon emergency ended up helping a little baby otter who had wandered off towards the smell of bacon cooking in the 13th street kitchen. Otters have a surprisingly good sense of smell (contrary to popular belief regarding most marine animals), so who can blame the poor little guy for exercising his brand new nose! Here's a picture of the adorable mammal, snapped minutes after the firefighter reunited him with his worried mom. Look at those paws! So dang CUTE. The momma, the baby, and the firefighter split a BLT to celebrate a great day. :)