Now Playing: Time Shift
Lastest Nite heer at Our Warren, we watched Maman and Dadda observe the Beginning ob The Turning Back ob Time!
It began with Cokie-the-Fat-Cat inna Kitchen. He came Downnastairs frum his 'Partmint atta Ushual Time and started getting bizzy poking his paws innu the laundry baskit and complaining OutLoud.
Anna Dawg was sota standing ober him, supervising. This is their way of 'Tracting'Tenshion while they're waiting around for Maman and Dadda to Start Feeding Time - which gen'rally coincides wif Our Salad Time, which issa Most 'Portant Time obba day. Gen'rally speaking...
So Maman heard Cokie making noise and saw Da Dawg standing over him and she came outta the Sitting Room to see Whut'sUp. And she said to Dadda,
"Whut's up with the Dawg? I don't like it when he sits over the Cat like that. It looks like he's plotting."
And then Dadda came outta the SittingRoom and stood ober Cokie and sorta gave him a prod-inna-butt wif his toe and said, "He wants feeding, I think."
And Cokie looked up, took an idle swipe atta Dawg and agreed wif Dadda, gen'rally speakin'...
So Dusty was out heer inna Bun Room, and he heard Maman and Dadda talking and started doing binkies to get their 'Tenshion. That's Dusty for you - he allus has to get 'Tenshion.
So Maman sorta wandered in through the Kitchen to see whut's up with Dusty onna'count obba Fakt he was making alla this noise, and she said over her shoulder to Dadda,
"Tell the Cat he's outta luck: it's too early for him to get fed."
And Dadda proded Cokie a little more, kinda thoughtful-like, and axted Maman, "Why is that? It's ten o'clock. I should take These Buggers Upstairs and give them their dinners."
And Maman reached in and started petting Dusty in his habbytat, to get him to Quiet Down. This is sorta like the beginning of Wun ob Auntie Grace's Goat-Ropes, or else the Continuation of sum Endless Projeckt: Petting Dusty is like eating peanuts, Maman says: once you begin, you can't stop.
And Maman said to Dadda,
"Lookit, tonight is the night that we get turn the clocks back an hour to get rid of 'Daylight Savings Time'. That means that even if the clock says ten o'clock tonight, tomorrow it's going to say nine o'clock at this same time, but the Cat won't know it and he'll be yelling for dinner an hour early. It's best if we save time and get him used to the idea now instead of later."
So Dadda finked this over fora minit, and said to Maman, "You know that Cokie can't tell time."
And Maman (who was still petting Dusty) nodded and said, "That's what I'm talking about: catz can't tell time. So we have to do it for them."
And Cokie, who was lying on the floor suddenly sat up, looked back at Us Bunnies and growled, "Whaaat?"
But Maman kept going: "The fing is that the Cat will be yelling for his dinner an hour early tomorrow. And you know how insistant Cokie can be, Brian. Especially when he thinks he's being hard-done-by."
"He allus thinks he's being hard-done-by." Said Dadda.
And Cokie said, "Cos I aaaaam!"
And Maman sort of ignored Cokie because she was talking to Dadda while still petting Dusty inna absent-minded sort of way,
"Exactly. So the thing to do is not to feed him now, even though the clock says that it's ten o'clock which is his feeding time, because it's really nine o'clock which is an hour too early. Time is only an invention of mankind to measure their linier passage through the universe. It is illusionary and I'm not going to have Cokie trying to impose any illusionary constraints on our decision-making processes."
And Mouse looked over at me and saed whut everyBun of us was thinking, inklooding Dadda, (but probably not Cokie who had just rolled ober on his back and was waving all four ob his paws inna air, and not Dusty eidder, who had preddy much fallen asleep frum being petted) which was somefing onna order of,
"Oh pooties! Heer she goes again!"
Because as Dadda has pointed out menny times bifore, Maman could happily sit on the Rim Ob Hell and exchange opinions about the Probable Maximim Number of Dancing Angels Permitted to Occupy the Head of a Standard Pin.
She's just like that. But it means that Salad Time is gonna be delayed. By Lots.
And MissyBun, who was occupying the High Ground looked over and said to me,
"George! Do sumFing!"
So I hadda Quick Fink, and suddenly, I called Da Dawg. It's easy enough to do - just *thump* and he comes waggin' ober to see Whut'samatta.
So we went nose-to-nose and I'm wike, "Whut aboutdda Patrol?"
Anna Dawg looked atta Back Door and his ears went Up, and he started doing his "Crossed Paws" Dance, which is preddy hard to ignore since it takes up most obba space between Missy's and my habbytat anna WashingMachine. And it involves alla dawgie-toenails on alla his four feets tappin' onna lin-o-le-um all at oncest, like a bucket ob castanets fallin' downnastairs.
So the noise obba Dawg toenails drew Cokie da Fat-Cat to come see Whut'sUp (because there might be Food involved!), only he was shamblin' atta pretty good clip and hadda sorta slllliiiiiiide to a stop, preddy much unner'neaf obba Dawg.
And Maman (whom he hadda pass on his sllllliiiide down the floor) flared up at him and yelled, "Cokie! You know 'No Catz Inna Bun Room'!"
And she sort ob stopped petting Dusty for a minit, and closed his habbytat lid.
So Dusty, who wasn't getting petting at just *that* sekond, waked up from his pet-induced trance and suddenly began to binky-binky-binky-hop around his habbytat inna circle. Which made ebberyfing in his habbytat bounce and bang right along wif him.
So there we had the pile-up in front obba Back door, wiffa Cokie-Cat swearing atta Dawg, and we hadda Dawg trying to get away frumma Cokie-Cat so Maman couldn't accuse him ob Starting Ennyfing, and we had Dusty bouncing and banging ebberyfing in his habbytat around like a tinker's bag ob pots and pans.
And MissyBun bounced outta the pootie-pan (giving me a momint ob zero-gravity) and hopped over to me and said, "Well, she isn't arguing 'bout Time ennymore, but we're not getting Salad, either."
And I'm, wike, "Wookit, wike Dadda says, I can't work wonders and poop miracles!"
And Dadda came innu da BunRoom, wooked in and said to Dusty, "Calm down, sunshine, before I introduce you to the concept of 'stew'."
And Dusty was too bizzy doin' his "Notice Me!" dance to notice Dadda, so Mouse yelled ober to him, "Cut the racket, Junior!"
And Dusty froze for a minit, and then periscoped, wooking ober at Maman and whuffled the air. And down inna Hospiddle Cage (cos she *still* isn't bonded to Mouse) Foxie stuck her nose out and made a nibble for Dadda's shoelace.
And for justa sekond there was silence inna BunRoom.
And then Maman said to Dadda, "And we're gonna go through this every night an hour earlier from now on inless we start teaching them the concept of 'one hour later'."
And Dadda shook his head and opined the Big White Box Where The Green Grow; and he took out nice plastic bags of fresh-frumma-market Romaine, and flat parsley and curly parsley and Baby Organic Carrots and wun-by-wun he gave them to Maman to hold. And then he took out tins of Dawg food and Cat food and he and Maman traipsed back innu the Kitchen.
And oncest they were there, and Maman was laying outta leebs to make Romaine Cups for Us Bunnies, and Dadda was loading uppa FoodBowls, Dadda said to her,
"Not tonight, Sweetheart. While it's easy to waste time, and lose time, and take time, and find time and even warp time, it takes a lot more effort to shift time. So let's cross that bridge when we come to it - around ten o'clock tomorrow night."
---------------------- By George!