Into the Archives

By Rondo, the Chatty Boy

Goodness gracious!  Finally!  It’s my turn to post a blog.... Well, that’s as it should be, don’t you think?  I always have lots to say.   Besides being a chatty boy and never at a loss for miaus, I’m the intelligent industrious one, the intrepid explorer and by far, the most handsome.  Most definitely the handsomest...just in case you were wondering. Well, no need to ever again!  I’m the GQ centerfold of feline fabulousness at M&M Central!  Now that I’ve set that straight.... let’s move on.   

Last week I was on the hunt... yes, exploring (no matter what for, but the rest of M&M Central were behind me, not literally, but behind my exploring, nevertheless.  I was on a mission.) ... and whoop-de-doo!  What an incredible find!  So incredible it altered my purpose for being on the hunt. It was a profound surprise! More than a surprise!  It was a revelation.  A revelation that surprised me... though why I would be surprised surprises me.  A cat of my intelligence should have known.  Well, here it is!  Maybe you’d better sit down before you read this.... It’s pretty shocking, yes, and surprising....

M&M Central was formed before we, the current frisky kitties, came along!  Yes, long before!  Eons before!  In fact, it was formed in a completely different century.  Shocking?  I’ll say it was! ... It was absolutely astonishing. In fact, it was mind blowing? Totally!  Who knew there was a century before ours?  You did?  Well, I had no idea!  None!  And who knew M&M Central was in existence before us, in another century, eons ago?  If I wore socks it would have knocked my socks off.  Yes, it would.  It would literally knock the socks off my little pawsies!  That is, if I wore them.     

So how did all this come about, this phenomenal revelation? A little background here.... 

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You must know that any self-respecting cat loves boxes.  Yes we do.  Oh boy! Boxes have such an allure for kitties...  Yes, that’s what I said, allure.  Boxes are alluring.  Large boxes, small boxes, boxes with holes in them, flip-lid boxes, skinny boxes, tube boxes, round boxes.  Oh, and Sweetie’s favourite - boxes with wide, scotch tape on which to nibble ... they all hold special places in our wee hearts.  Boxes!   Oh, and I mustn’t forget to mention empty boxes, seemingly the emptier the better.     

But now... right this week in my exploring I have found a new type of box that entices me  to dig further - a box with ‘stuff’ in it.  Yes, an unempty box filled to the brim with stuff... very old stuff... eons old from a past century. Luckily though, not moth-eaten old stuff.  Thankfully this stuff was well-preserved... free of moths. Let’s not go there again!  Well, you may if you wish... (see MOTH DAY!) but I’d advise against it. Too HORRENDOUS!

So, there I was scrounging around in the storage closet.  Why?  Well, that’s irrelevant to this tale but it seems you’re not going to let it go.... soooo, if you must know... The storage closet known by the M&M Crew as the cats' pantry is where the extra bag of kibble is stored. Kibble!  A stash of kibble for eating.  A horded-by-Grammy stash of kibble that we never get to see let alone eat and I was sent on a recon mission to locate and allocate some of this kibble to placate the ‘starving’ crew.   But as I stated before, that’s irrelevant to this story.... We’ll come back to that at some later date. 

Here I was searching for the bag of kibble when I found, hitherto undiscovered by kitties, those unempty boxes, boxes filled, as I mentioned earlier, with stuff... old stuff, eons old stuff. 

Well, Grammy heard me whoop, “Boxes!” and came arunning to see what had me all of a dither.  “What are you doing in those plastic bins?”  Bins? What bins? What you talking about, bins?   These are boxes.  They look like boxes to me - not made of that chewable cardboard stuff but they are shaped like boxes.  They even have flip lids.  Yes, the lids flip like box lids.  They must be boxes.  Now maybe they hadn’t invented cardboard back then, eons ago, last century.  Maybe the word box hadn't been invented either.   I don’t know but these very old boxes and there were lots of them...were full.  Full of ‘stuff’ as I said before... very old stuff, eons old from a previous century.

Well, curiosity got the better of me.  I was into those stuff-filled boxes before you could say, Jack Robinson.  Yes I was... Digging down I uncovered photographs, old photographs, bits of paper – very old bits... and fabric, ancient textiles.  Yes, cloth!  Clothing!  Oh, my!  CAT Clothing!  Who knew cats wore clothing?  Not me!  Not my siblings!  Not a-one of us!  Not even that ancient old dear, Whiskers. Nary a one of us knew! But there it was... the evidence was there in those eons old photos and written on those bits of paper and most evident of all those pieces of fabric shaped into cat clothing.  There was no denying it!  

Our first revelation of the day!  Boxes were stored in our pantry, the cats’ pantry and long before the invention of cardboard those boxes made of plastic were called bins.  The second? Amazingly, astonishingly, M&M Central was formed before US (my sibs and I), at some point in time, eons ago in another century.  In fact, formed back in the days of plastic boxes.  And our third amazing revelation? Cats wore clothing!   I was shocked.  No, I was more than shocked.  I was astonished and amazed.  Add to that that I was curious.  Curious as a cat!  Yes, can you believe it?   Curiosity was overcoming my shock and astonishment. 

Hmmm... I have to know more about these cats who wore clothing who lived in another century, eons ago.  This needs further investigation but for now it’ll have to wait... the kibble is calling. 

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