Tuesday is garbage day. The garbage truck usually comes just before eight in the ante meridiem. Before Jubbers left for work this morning, she sent me a chat message reminding me to wheel the trashcan out to the road.
I didn't see Jubbers's message until roughly twenty till eight. When I saw it, I kicked on some shoes, pulled the trash out of the inside bin, and went outside. I went to the north side of the house, fought to get the screw-top lid off the big trashcan (it's supposed to prevent raccoons from getting in the trash; it's a bastard, though, and can get stuck), put the bag in the big trashcan, wheeled the can out to the road, and went back inside. I beat the garbage truck by about five minutes.
Jubboiter was screamy when I got back. I changed her, fed her, and played with her for a bit, then went to wheel the trashcan back to the north side of the house. When I got there, I saw the above. I assumed Jubbers had drawn it in the snow for me before she left for work, since she knew I'd be taking the trash out to the road. I also assumed I had missed it, in my haste to get the trash to the road, the first time I went to the north side of the house. It was a good circle, and I was impressed with the cleverness of using a cat's paw prints for the eyes. It bore a vague resemblance to Jack Skellington, of whom both Jubbers and I are fans. It was also wearing what appeared to be a yarmulke, which was sorta weird, but it's not like Jubbers is 100% normal.
When I asked her about it, she said she had done no such thing. I sent her the picture. She asked if maybe the base of the trashcan had made the impression. I told her it couldn't have. The base isn't that wide. I'd already checked. Also, the wheels would have made an impression.
For a second or two, I thought maybe we had a stalker. I then realized what had happened. I had thrown the lid to the ground after I had taken it off to add the trash bag. It just happened to land that way. When I replaced the lid, I was too focused on beating the garbage truck to the road to notice the ring left in the snow.
I, it turned out, was the yarmulke-wearing smiley face's artist. Well, co-artist. There was also the cat.
