What is Labor Day

 

Booker-T and Midge walked to Jake's house. They hurried up the street and entered the gate to his front yard.

"Hey Jake!" called Midge. "Where are you?"

"Hi guys," replied Jake as he came running around the house to the front porch.

"What are you doing?" asked Booker-T.

"I just came outside," said Jake. "What are you doing?"

"We came to see what you are doing," said Midge. "What did you do last night."

"My owner's family came to the house and they cooked food outside," said Jake.

"How did they cook outside?" asked Booker-T. "Do they have a stove outside?"

"They called it a grill," said Jake. "I sat there and watched the food cooking and watched everyone walking around the yard."

"Did your owner cook outside too, Midge?" asked Booker-T.

"No," said Midge. "She went to her brother's house."

"Did you go with her?" asked Jake.

"No," sighed Midge. "I had to stay home this time."

"What did you do Booker-T?" asked Jake.

"My owner watched a movie and we ate some popcorn," said Booker-T.

"They said it was Labor day," said Jake.

"What is Labor day?" asked Midge.

"I think it is cooking outside and shooting fireworks," said Booker-T.

"I don't know what Labor day is," said Jake. "They like to cook outside and eat a lot."

"Do you like the fireworks?" asked Booker-T.

"They are pretty but they scare me," said Midge. "I jumped when they went boom."

"Me too," said Booker-T. "Why do the humans like fireworks when they make so much noise?"

"I don't know," said Jake. "They were all clapping and laughing when the fireworks went boom."

"I could hear the fireworks when we watched the movie," said Booker-T. "I like it quiet."

"Me too," said Midge. "I think they should make quiet fireworks."

"Fireworks are dangerous too," said Jake.

"They can cause fires, I think," said Midge.

"They hurt too," said Jake.

"They hurt my ears too," said Booker-T.

"They hurt my head," said Jake.

"How did they hurt your head?" asked Midge.

"My owner and her sister took us all to the fireworks show at a park last year," said Jake. "My owner's sister brought her little baby with us. He was sitting in that seat with wheels and drinking a bottle when a big firework went boom and he got scared and threw open his arms and the bottle hit me in the head."

Midge and Booker-T started laughing.

"It hurt," said Jake.

"The fireworks didn't hurt," laughed Midge. "The bottle hurt."

"But it was the firework that scared the baby and his bottle hit me in the head," said Jake.

"I guess if you go to the park to watch fireworks," laughed Booker-T. "Don't sit too close to a little one with a bottle."

"I had a quiet night at home," said Midge. "Me and Snappy."

"Did you miss your owner?" asked Booker-T.

"No," said Midge.

"Why?" asked Jake. "I like my owner when she is home and I like going with her if she goes somewhere."

"I do too," said Midge. "But my owner's family has a lot of little human kids running around when they get together and they step on my feet. That hurts."

"That would be worse than getting a bottle on top of your head," said Booker-T. "When there are little human kids around, I go hide under the bed."

"That would be a safe place to be," laughed Jake. "When I was a puppy, I crawled under the bed and a little human kid crawled under there with me."

"Oh," laughed Booker-T. "Some are little enough to get under there too."

"Next year," I want to stay home where it is quiet," said Jake. "Fireworks hurt my ears and my head."

"Me too," said Midge and Booker-T.

"But what is Labor day?" asked Midge.

"I don't know," said Jake. "Gabby flies all over the city. Maybe he knows what it is."

As they sat and talked, Gabby flew down and landed on the porch railing. "What are you guys doing?" asked Gabby.

"Talking," said Midge.

"Talking about what?" asked Gabby.

"Do you know what this Labor day is that the humans celebrate?" asked Jake. "We know what Christmas is and what some other holidays are, but we don't know what this Labor day thing is."

"I am not sure," said Gabby. "I think they celebrate not working that day."

"Do they celebrate not working every time they have a day off?" asked Midge.

"I think they save it all up and celebrate it on one day a year," suggested Gabby.

"You really don't know what it is either," said Booker-T.

"No," said Gabby shaking his head.

"They like to eat a lot that day," laughed Jake.

"So they must be celebrating eating," said Midge. "I like to eat too."

"Me too," said Jake and Booker-T.