Observation - My humans do some weird things. I've noticed once a day, usually after dinner, Mom stretches out on her bed, props this strange thing on her belly and looks at it for hours. Doesn't do anything, just looks at it. Piper does it to. Sometimes she switches it out for the same thing only in a different color. Sometimes she laughs out loud when she's looking at it, sometimes her eyes leak. The inside has pages and pages with nothing but a kazillion tiny marks on them that make no sense at all. If I laid still like that out in the wild, I'd have been snapped up by a bird or something. Couldn't stand it anymore so I asked Ginger about it. Ginger says those things are called books and what Mom is doing is called "reading". Mom loves it. Looks pretty darn boring to me and I said so to Ginger. "There are stories in there, and they're not boring." she said. "Yeah? How do you know?"
"Because sometimes Mom reads the stories out loud. It's nice listening to her. She read out loud all the time when the kids were still at home."
"Well, it LOOKS boring to me," I said. "Do you think she'll ever read out loud to me?"
"I don't know, maybe."
"So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"
"We help. We lay beside her and keep her company."
"But she doesn't even know we're there."
"Oh yes she does. Mom always knows when we're close."
"Because sometimes Mom reads the stories out loud. It's nice listening to her. She read out loud all the time when the kids were still at home."
"Well, it LOOKS boring to me," I said. "Do you think she'll ever read out loud to me?"
"I don't know, maybe."
"So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"
"We help. We lay beside her and keep her company."
"But she doesn't even know we're there."
"Oh yes she does. Mom always knows when we're close."