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It’s Labor Day on the Court. For the human inhabitants of the court, this is a day to sleep in, mow the lawn, go for a picnic or engage in some other family related activity.  For the cats, however, it’s not a regular day.  The Oak Court Cats are used to having people around for 2 days then the next 5 are quiet as we are off to work and school.  While I don’t think they can count the days, they are very much into the routines of our lives.

They appear to coordinate their morning schedule with my alarm clock and will be sitting patiently in the kitchen, waiting for breakfast, at 5:00 every morning.  They know that another round of wet food hits the bowls at 6:00 in the evening; several of the chowder will be sitting around the corners of the kitchen awaiting the splat sound when the Ocean White Fish and Tuna hit the bowl.  They are familiar with bed time, most of them going to their regular spots around 10:30, when the rest of the occupants of the house start to settle in for the night.  It’s all about routines.

So today I upset a few of them when I was digging around in the front closet for the flag.  I had help moving things around, lots of help.  Mid-morning I started cleaning out the vegetable garden.  Another questionable activity.  Didn’t I know this is their special place, where they spend hot afternoons sleeping in the shade of the tomato plants?  The Big Guy sat in the corner of the plot staring at me for an hour as I ‘clear cut’ the veggie forest.  I’m sure he’ll find some way to demonstrate his displeasure;  I must remember to check my shoes for hairballs before I put them on tomorrow morning.  I’ve disrupted their routine.

The Court’s quiet again; the peregrine falcons have moved on.  Most of the squirrels have returned although I’m pretty sure we lost a few of them to the falcons.   There is a new cat on the block; he’s shown some interest in the Court Cats, coming around this side of the court a few times to introduce himself.  Wonder when he’ll start coming in the cat door for a quick lunch with the rest of the cats?

Little girl stops to pay her respects to the flag.

Tomorrow it’s back to the routine where people run around for a bit, getting ready for work and school.  At 7:30 the house gets very quiet, as the people leave, and the cats settle down for the day.  Not sure what they do all day but it probably entails a lot of sleeping.  They’ll rest until 4:00 when people return and the house is active again.

The cat’s will go out on patrol a few times during the day.  With the trash pickup tomorrow I suspect they’ll want to get out early to investigate the various trash cans out on the street before the trucks come down the street. I don’t think they’ll hang around when the trucks show up however; they’ll probably be hiding behind the front curtains, waiting for them to leave.

Anyway, it’s almost time for their evening snack (another routine they’ve come to expect).

Nite