This particular morning Newton brooded as he watched the couple get out of their truck and stand around looking at the apple trees and the east meadow. To Newton’s disgust and alarm, two more trucks drove up and two men got out. They all just walked around, looking down at the ground, their hands in their pockets.
Then, from down the road, a roaring sound came and soon a huge yellow monster rolled into view. In the back of his throat, Newton matched the creature’s drone with a growl of his own. When the beast grunted and drove into the driveway, Newton hissed and hurled himself from the sill, scrambling among the old boots and tackle strewn on the floor to leap onto the east window sill for a better view. Below him the yellow behemoth, farting plumes of black smoke, chugged out to where the people stood. Newton flattened his ears and sank his claws into the soft gray sill. What the hell was this? After a few moments of humming, the monster lifted a huge paw with fierce unsheathed claws and began to dig. Over and over again the massive yellow monster scooped up big pawfuls of dirt. Newton, even in his outraged state, could not help but be impressed. He was an accomplished digger himself in the performance of his sanitary activities. The people watching seemed fascinated as well. All of them picked up pawfuls of the dirt and one of them, bringing a shovel from his truck, joined in the digging, making a smaller hole in the big one. Then, to Newton’s puzzlement, the man brought a big jug of water and poured it into the hole. All the people stood around the hole and looked at the water. The digging monster moved a little distance away and began digging again.