The Noisy Machine

“Hi Jake,” said Midge as Jake came into the yard at her house. “You are here early today. Did you sleep last night?”

“Ha ha,” smiled Jake. “I slept. My owner is cleaning house today and it is too noisy so took walk.”

“She makes a lot of noise when she cleans?” asked Midge with a puzzled look.

“Does your owner use one of those noisy things in the house when she cleans?” asked Jake.

“What noisy thing?” asked Midge.

“She is cleaning the floor,” said Jake. “She has one for the carpet and one for the tile floors that gets the floor wet.”

“My owner uses something called a vacuum cleaner when she cleans in the living room,” said Midge. “But she don't use a different one for the floor in the kitchen.”

“She uses this thing that gets the floor wet for a little while,” said Jake. “Then it dries fast.”

“Oh, I think Booker-T's owner has one of them,” said Midge. “It is a mop but is a machine. My owner just uses a mop and bucket to clean the kitchen floor.”

“Those vacuum cleaner things sure do get noisy,” said Jake. “She sucked up on my little pieces of bone I was chewing on the other day with it. I don't think she was happy. He didn't see it and it sure made a bad noise when it sucked it up. It just disappeared.”

“My owner walks around and checks for big things that might be laying on the floor before she uses hers... if they are big, she uses just the hose of it and sucks up the stuff,” said Midge. “The floor always looks so nice when she finishes.”

“My house too,” smiled Jake. “How often does your owner run that machine in your house?”

“She only does it once a week,” said Midge.

“Mine does it twice a week,” said Jake. “Today she is doing it early in the morning, but the other day, she does it a little later in the day.”

“Does all the humans use those things?” asked Midge.

“I don't know,” said Jake. “I bet a lot of them do. It sure cleans up the floor nice.”

“In the kitchen,” said Midge. “My owner sweeps the floor with something she calls a broom and then washes it with this mop thing and a bucket of water.”

“Hi you guys,” greeted Booker-T as he joined them on the porch. “What are you talking about?”

“About what our owners use to clean the floors in the house,” said Jake.

“That is a strange subject to talk about,” laughed Booker-T.

“Jake came early because his owner was running a noisy machine,” said Midge. “We were talking about it.”

“Your owner uses a machine on the floors?” asked Booker-T.

“I think your owner does too,” said Midge.

“She runs something she calls a vacuum,” said Booker-T.

“That is a machine,” laughed Midge.

“Oh, okay,” said Booker-T. “It is noisy when she uses it. I didn't know that the vacuum was a machine.”

“Learn something every day, don't you?” laughed Jake.

“I have learned a lot since Midge got me this great home,” said Booker-T.

“I'm sure it is lot different than living in the alleys,” said Jake.

“It is much nicer having a nice home you can go inside at,” said Booker-T. “I'm really happy that Midge found it for me and am happy the person liked cats.”

“Are we going to the park today?” asked Midge.

“Yes,” said Jake. “I think I heard on the weather that we will have little snow next week.”

“I know it will be here soon,” said Midge. “I heard my owner telling someone that we are going to have a bad winter this year.”

“Winter is always bad,” said Booker-T. “I don't like winter too much.”

“It is already cold enough now,” said Jake. “My owner put the heavy blanket in my bed now.”

“I thought you slept on the foot of your owner's bed?” asked Midge.

“I do,” said Jake. “In daytime if I want nap, I sleep in the dog bed near the blowing heat.”

“My owner has a nice warm electric blanket she turns on when it is really cold out,” said Booker-T. “I sure feels good sleeping on it.”

“I know,” smiled Midge. “Mine has one too.”

“What is going on up there near the school?” asked Jake as the three walked to the park.

“I don't know,” said Midge. “I can't see from here. Lets hurry and see what it is.”

They ran along the sidewalk toward the school. When they ran into the parking lot, they could see kids getting on a big bus that was parked in the parking lot.

“I think that is the school band,” said Jake. “They must be going to play for some game somewhere.”

“I want to go,” said Midge.

“Why?” asked Booker-T. “What would you do at a game?”

“Play with them,” said Midge.

“It's not a game where they play with dogs,” said Jake. “They play ball.”

“But I like to play ball,” said Midge. “Don't you like to play ball anymore?”

“I love to play ball, but it is a different kind of ball,” said Jake. “See that boy over there?”

“The one with the big fat stick?” asked Midge.

“Yes, that one,” said Jake. “That is a baseball bat. They are going to a baseball game.”

“Can we play baseball?” asked Midge.

“I don't think so,” said Jake. “How would you hold the bat?”

“I don't know,” said Midge. “How do you play baseball?”

“I saw a game once,” said Booker-T. “The boys used to play in the empty field behind the cafe.”

“Is it fun?” asked Midge.

“They were hitting the ball with one of those big fat sticks,” said Booker-T. “If they hit the ball, they would throw down the stick to the ground and run around the field.”

“Oh,” said Midge.

“Sometimes, the ones hitting the balls ran out into the field and the ones in the field would run up and they would hit the ball,” said Booker-T.

“Can we go watch a game?” asked Midge.

“Sometimes they play near the school,” said Jake. “When they play again, we can go see them.”

“I want to chase the ball too,” said Midge.

“They won't let us chase the ball,” said Booker-T. “I tried that one time and the boys were not happy that I picked up their ball and ran with it.”

“They won't let us play with them,” said Jake. “All we can do is sit and watch.”

“That doesn't sound like that much fun,” said Midge. “I want to chase the ball and bring it back for them.”

“They have to do it themselves,” said Jake.

“Oh,” sighed Midge. “Maybe we can find something else to do. I want to chase the balls.”

“Lets go to the park now,” said Jake.

The three left the school yard and headed to the park. They hurried to the little pond and found some little ducks swimming there. They sat on the rocks near the water and watched them swimming around.

“I don't want to scare the ducks,” said Midge. “Lets go back to my house for the day.”

They agreed and walked along the sidewalk back to Midge's house where they curled up in the sunshine to rest.