Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Chameleon, am I cute or what?

Chameleon:  Cooter you are Cuteness Itself!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Really?  The Big One often resists my cuteness....

Chameleon:  But just barely.  Don't worry.

Chameleon: Cooter, the Big One asked me to have a little informal talk with you about a delicate matter...so listen up, ok?

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Uh Oh.  Now what?

Chameleon:  Well...You know, when you snuggle up on the Big One's chest every night...?

Cooter:  Oh...It's just for a little while!  That's non-negotiable, by the way.

Chameleon:  No, no, that's wonderful...It's just that...well...the Big One was wondering if it would be too much to ask...

Cooter:  So why doesn't the Big One just ask?

Chameleon:  Well, the Big One has been attempting to communicate this to you for quite a while now...is what I understand, so...

Cooter:  Ok, ok...Just tell me!

Chameleon:  Well here it is then.  Could you graciously keep your...uh...rear end out of the Big One's face, from now on, during the bedtime snuggles...by any chance?

Cooter:  Aw...common.  Cat companions pile up that way naturally.  Everyone knows that!  The Big One didn't seem to mind 'tail to nose' arrangements back when I was tiny...you know...back when we all lived in that big, cushy, dark, box...and snuggled lots and lots.  

Chameleon:  But Cooter, back then...that first Big One was...a cat!

Cooter:  You're kidding, right?!

Chameleon:  Well I told the Big One I would talk to you about this.  So I did.  So now just go play in the bamboo bush.

Cooter:  All the Big One had to do is ask plainly...but OK...maybe.    

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Why did you change the name of our adventures here?

Chameleon:  Raccoon Daddy greeted me after waking up again yesterday morning and remarked "That Cooter The Tortoise Cat is still untamed, even though she walks on a string with the Big One!"  And I replied, "Cooter expresses the veritable Untamed Gnosis of LIFE itself, just as well as you do Companion Alley Raccoon!"  And I meant it too!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  OK.  But WHAT did you mean by it?

Chameleon:  Oh...well...ahem.  It's deep...deeper than the deepest hole and higher than the highest tree top.  The exact meaning is almost impossible to express in ordinary conversation.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  OWW!

Chameleon:  Did you mean WOW!?

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  The meaning of OWW! cannot be expressed in ordinary conversation either. 

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I found the sidewalks dry this afternoon and I could feel sunshine!  But all the plants are still asleep, covered with snow.

Chameleon:  Why not play in the snow, Cooter?

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Big Ones can walk on the snow because they wear extra 'skins' or 'furrs' on their feet.

Chameleon:  I'm sure the Big One would be happy to provide you with cat-shoes. 

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Oh no.

Chameleon:  Why?  The Raccoons tread through melting snow, and many of the Doggies frolick in it...and the Squirrels dig in it...And many nights you watch the neighborhood Gray Cat pouncing through snow drifts...And all of them go bare pawed all winter!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I have never met a bear so I know nothing about going bear-pawed! 

Chameleon:  Cooter those are some wild, beautiful, green leafy, rainbowy blossoming little Spring-ing dreams you are circulating!

Cooter:  SHHHHHHH.  Let me dream on...Don't wake me now!

Chameleon:  OK.  Dream on Cooter.  But we're about to have a visitor and I know you will wake up for customary greetings then.

Cooter:  SHHHHHH I tell you!  Whenever something wake-worthy happens it happens, ok?

Chameleon:  OK, Little Cooter, dream on for just a few more moments.

Cooter:  I can fly with flocks of wide-winged gleaming birds and scramble the tallest sparkly trees and wildest budding gardens with dozens of the boldest flee-bitten squirrels in any given few more dreaming moments.  Now SHHHHH please.

Chameleon:  OK, OK, OK.

Chameleon:  We enjoyed many sunny days in the garden this autumn...and last night the Raccoons were wide awake because it was warm again.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Warm?!

Chameleon:  OK...Warmer.  The snow and ice was melting already.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  There aren't any shadows today...so did you make it into this image some other way?

Chameleon:  It is difficult for most folks to see a chameleon hiding among red leaves...but if you look carefully...closely...!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Hey...I'm beginning to suppose you're pulling my leg!

Chameleon:  Not quite...almost...But I wouldn't do that!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I meant...as Big Ones say it now and then...I'm beginning to smell a rat! 

Chameleon:  Oh...really?

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  How come you don't show up in any of these strange shadow-box images the Big One captures of our strolls?  You always go along!

Chameleon:  Ahem...Yes...Well my vibrations cannot be captured the same way as your's and the Big One's by that ordinary device.  So...I often show up as an extra shadow...or something else.  Look.  See the extra bulge on the tree's shadow in the photo below?  I show up on the upper left side there.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Uh...hmmm...uh...well.  I don't quite...Oh!  Ok!  I see now.  How tricky!  How fun!

Chameleon:  What a wonderful afternoon we shared!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  But where are you in the picture at the top?

Chameleon:  You find me!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Also, what did those window watcher cats mean when they hissed that I'm 'too Big One oriented' for catkind?  And they expressed 'Big One' differently.  What's 'Servant' supposed to mean?  And they are very anti-string.  What harm is there in taking the Big One out on a string like the doggy-folk do?

Chameleon:  Ah...Well.  You nevermind about any of that Cooter.  There are many many pronunciations of 'Big One' among the many kinds of critterkind!  Just be your own self...with your own part-doggy and parts-of-otherkinds soul.

Chameleon:  Cooter, you didn't!

Cooter:  What?!

Chameleon:  Tell me you didn't really eat Beta-Fish's special food!

Cooter:  Oh but I ate only two by mistake while I lapped a drink right after the Big One dropped them in.

Chameleon:  By mistake?  Really?  Beta-Fish only gets two or three of those a day you know!

Cooter:  Beta-Fish could complain to the Big One and get more treats.

Chameleon:  Oh my goodness!  Cooter it is almost impossible for Fish Folk to complain so Big Ones can hear them!  And those aren't treats - those are the main course.

Cooter:  Don't worry...The Big One saw me slurp up those itty-bitty treats and already dropped two more in for Companion Beta-Fish.

Chameleon:  Remember, Beta-Fish is your special responsibility....You agreed to watch over Beta-Fish and make sure everything is A-ok in that fish bowl all day every day!

Cooter:  So am I sort of like a Big One to Beta-Fish?

Chameleon:  Well...maybe you are more like a 'bigger one' or the Big One's assistant.

Cooter:  Doesn't associate sound better?  I like the title Associate Big One better.

Chameleon:  Ok, fine.  I mean wonderful.  Really. 

Cooter:  So what are those tiny treats made of?

Chameleon:  I tell you another day.

Cooter:  You mean you don't know?

Chameleon:  I mean I do know but I am not telling right now! 

Cooter:  Why?

Chameleon:  You just ate....I don't want you to throw up.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Oh! How purrrfect! 

Chameleon:  Cooter!  The Big One wants you to look towards the camera!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I already looked at that crazy Big One contraption but it didn't do anything.

Chameleon:  The Big One wants you to look at the camera again, Cooter!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I'm busy now greeting all these favorite smelly springing flowers.   

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  There is nothing to do but lie around inside again.  The outside territories are getting thundered upon and even our front steps are wet and cold!

Chameleon:  Did you see the water creatures in the Big One's work screen?  You can watch fish and whales in Monterey Bay live all day with that gadget!  You can even watch Penguins and Otters.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Those water critters are huge...And I never dreamed so many would decide to live under water!

Chameleon:  That webcam only shows one tiny piece of all the wild edges of the deep wide seas of Earth!

Cooter The Toroise Cat:  Oh no one of those raging droning yellow monsters with the blinking rotating amber eye is turning onto our street!  They must love the rain.  Hurry and hide - it's coming this way!

Chameleon:  That's just another one of those Big One things - it won't hurt you.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Quick, help me hide!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I dreamed the garden was fat leafed and fresh smelly like the last 'warm days' and all the plants were wide awake and I had wings and I was flying underwater through secret territories in the holes I found behind the rocks way over in the corner!

Chameleon:  So you were a flying water-cat.  How splendid and wonderful.  You must be part flying-fish too!  Your ancient ancestors must have been amazing super-beings.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I was chasing amazing super-things but they all got away!

Happy Little Cooter & Catnip Mouse!

Chameleon:  Cooter!  Oh COO-OOO-TER!  Hey COOTER!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Purr...Purr...Purr...What?  I say WHAT?

Chameleon:  I was just checking to make sure you are quite comfortable this wonderful midwinter spring afternoon.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Oh yes, quite...Purr...Purr...Purr...Purr...Purr...(back to the dreaming).

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I was running up the stairs as fast as I could but the Big One still caught me right away!  What does 'allergic to cats' mean?  The Big One says I cannot go running through the building like we do outside because some of the other Big Ones inside here are allergic to cats!

Chameleon:  I have noted over the years that many Big One therapists and doctors are indeed allergic to many kinds of beings and things.  Allergic means suddenly stricken with an unpleasant reaction from deep within...Big Ones with allergies just suddenly start sneezing and get runny noses and eyes or worse, even wheeze and have trouble breathing and swell up inside and out from allergic reactions...whenever they enounter certain other kinds of beings than human beings - I mean than other Big Ones...even in their imaginations.  It's almost entirely a human being - I mean Big One - 'thing' or complaint...nothing you or I can do about it.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Tiger Man sneezes and snorts when he's happy!  I miss the doggies and warm afternoons!  What does 'deep within' mean?

Chameleon:  It won't be so long before the longer, warmer days are here, Cooter!

Cooter The Tortose Cat:  But...what...?

Chameleon:  Cooter, just take a little nap...Then you will go deep within!   

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  The Big One carried me most of the way today when we strolled outside.  Almost all my favorite plants were asleep!  The smelliest plants stayed green and are still wide awake.  And the littlest birds were hiding in the snowiest branches singing away.  I could hardly wait to get back inside!

Chameleon:  Cooter, why don't you just curl up by the lamp and take another little nap?  Your dreams might be evergreen!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I took a bath with the Big One and I am already dry again!

Chameleon:  You did not!  You just fell in.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I did that on purpose...I have been dreaming of it a long while!

Chameleon:  You jumped out fast enough!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Both feet and my tail were under the water I tell you...and I lingered a little.  And I didn't just run away or shake!  Quite calmly I let the lamp light dry my fur as I savored this adventure on the window sill.

Chameleon:  Cooter that is amazing!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Some naps I dream of being a water cat!

Chameleon:  You told me you dreamed of wings!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I dream many dreams during many naps. 

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Why doesn't the Big One just follow me?

Chameleon:  Well...The Big One goes along by a mysterious concept called Reasons.  But the Big One may also be caught up what is called the force of Habit.    

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I do not understand what I can do about it!  On some walks the Big One is easier to handle but on others the Big One seems crazy.

Chameleon:  Just keep tugging....Everything will be ok no matter what.

White Horse:  Walk the ways in a straight line.

The Tink:  Go ahead and lie down in the grass so the Big One will carry you home.

Black Horse:  I carry the Big One...Its fun.

Tigerman:  Keep pulling the Big One over to everything and anything interesting....Gobble the most interesting stuff before the Big One stops you!

Little Lucy:  I rarely use a string...The Big One follows me everywhere without any string attatched.

Frenchy the Dog:  If the Big One stops to bark at other Big Ones I begin loud howling.

Yellow Horse:   I use the string to communicate with the Big One as I pull a cartload of Big Ones along....I heard that kitty cats can't do that.

Cooter:  I have to stop and look around every several steps...I simply must.

Chameleon:  The Big One would go farther from home and stay out longer Cooter if you walked straighter and didn't stop so often.

Cooter:  Why go out if you do not stop to snif and nibble the plants along the ways?  

Orange Tabby:  I have never walked a Big One on a string in my life and I advise against the practice.  By the way...I stay out all night whever I want to.

Chameleon:  I bet you stop and look around every several steps!

Chameleon:  The Big One opened the padlock of the crawlspace you can see from your window and let a worker with electricity into the spaces under your house and didn't want to leave you alone.  Wasn't your adventure interesting?

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  There were critters hiding down there...and lots and lots of crawlies...and dripping things and pools of water...and the many wild smells that hit me all at once down there made my nose itch!

Chameleon:  So it was fun anyway, right?

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I was ready for a nap after that disturbance but instead the Big One and I suddenly crawled into one of those dreaded rolling contraptions and when I was finally able to get out...We were next to the biggest poopee box in the world...and then...I somehow knew where we must be....The BIG OCEAN was right there before me, just like in the dreaming!

Chameleon:  The Big Ocean is a hundred hundredfold...and I mean many times...vaster than that lake you saw!  Yet the lake near here is called a 'great lake' just because it is far bigger than usual.

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I was much scareder than usual...This was the most mysterious outing I have ever endured...Why did the Big One have to bring me to such a strange, scarey place?

Chameleon:  So it was pretty FUN, right? 

Chameleon:  You have quite a bit of Gryphon in you, I would say.  Yes, I am certain your great ancestors had Lion Wings.  Now that you are a little kitty, you only have wings in your dreams....

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Can my dream wings ever wake up with me and stick around?

Chameleon:  It is very possible...yet not likely.  When you wake up your thoughts fly so very swiftly toward reminding the Big One to put more yummies in your dish! 

Chameleon:  Goodness and gracious!  Did you run away?  Did you run across the street or up a tree?

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  No, I stayed right next to the Big One!  At first Big One didn't even notice this most unusual incident with our string.

Chameleon:  Cooter, you must be careful if your string to the Big One ever comes loose again!  You must never climb a tree so high you can't get back down....If you stalk a bird or chase a squirrel you must watch for traffic on the street!  You must never take a nap while hiding under any of the Big Ones' cars!  You must never corner any of the Voles or Raccoons!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I stayed next to the Big One the whole while because a black and white cat was staring at me out a window and I had to crouch right there and stare back!

Chameleon:  If the string between you and the Big One ever comes off again be careful not to fall down that gaping hole in the drainage pipe out back!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  When did this happen...I don't remember...?

Chameleon:  Huh?  Uh...Well, you must have been taking a nap when it happened, Cooter.  Actually these wonderous events began to unwind the whole troublesome situation the world is in today.  Yet most of us remain faithful to the Big Ones of Earth and of Otherwheres, and carry on hopes of great big wonders some day coming to pass everywhere out of the clever deeds of our courageous little Big Ones...Cooter wake up! 

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  You already told me this story.  Can we go outside now and play with Bear The Dog?  Look...he's taking his Big One for a walk! 

Chameleon:  ...Not when the Vole is half again your size.  What or who were you pouncing on in the grasses over in the church garden?

Cooter the Tortoise Cat:  It's fun to play with the Little Beings of various sizes and shapes, who dance in the grass these days, waking up my favorite plants!

Chameleon:  Oh, that's what you call them?

Cooter the Tortoise Cat:  So you can see those Little Beings, too?

Chameleon:  Naturally.  Of course I see them! I converse often with our wee ones - of various shapes and sizes!

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  Huh?  I have been listening all along, really.  Please go on!

Chameleon:  How can I answer all your questions while you start cat napping in the middle of the story?

Cooter The Tortoise Cat:  I was listening in the middle of the cat nap, really.  You know we kitty-folk can do that.  Go on with the story...please.