The Stomach Clock – Conversations with the Big Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Uh, Lady Human, what’s happening?

Baby and Bud: Chirp. Tweet.

Sweetie: Why are the birds eating now?

Me: It’s their evening meal. You watch. They do that every day about this time.

Sweetie: Do they tell time from that clock with the moving sticks the way you do?

Me: No, more like they use their stomach clock.

Doodlebug: I want one of those.

Me: Y’all each have one already.

Doodlebug: Huh. I don’t feel it.

Me: You feel it four times a day. Morning. Lunchtime. Afternoon. Evening.

Sweetie: Why don’t the little clock sticks tickle?

MoonCat: Lady Human, they believe every single thing you tell them. Now they believe they have physical clocks in their bellies. That’s just sad. Please, please be careful what you tell them next. No daggers in the eyes. No fire-breathing noses. Beliefs carry consequences. And there’s no telling where bulldog consequences may end up.

©️ 2025. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Timetable – Part 2 – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: You have dodged my question, Lady Human. What is time? And what does it have to do with those boxes in your hands or those circles on the wall with moving sticks stuck on them?

Doodlebug: I do like the one with the skinny red moving stick that goes around and around and around…

Sweetie: Yes, I know. Tedious.

Me: You know how the sky gets dark and then it gets light again. Well, people measure time on earth by how fast the earth turns in front of the sun. So if a clock says 8 a.m., we have a good idea how much light there is left in the day.

Sweetie: So the clock is time.

Me: No, clocks measure time here on earth and the time it tells is different depending on where you are.

Sweetie: Tedious.

Me: You have no idea.

MoonCat: Yeah, I have an idea, just by listening to y’all talk about it.

©️ 2025. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Tyranny of the Clock – Part 2 – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Lady Human, you all have fouled things up again.

Me: Whatever do you mean?

MoonCat: Meow. Dinnertime. Late. Fix it. Now.

Me: Well, I’ve been going by the time change, so, yes, I guess mealtimes seem late the last few days.

Doodlebug: Seem? There’s no seem about it. Where’s the food?

Me: Since it’s been getting a little darker earlier and the time changed, you all have been eating at different times so…

Sweetie: I’m not talking about what WE have been doing. I’m talking about what YOU have been doing. How come meals are late?

MoonCat: Meow. We have been patient.

Sweetie: Don’t tell me. Let me guess. You humans have been fooling around with the sun again. Telling us when it will rise and when it will set.

Doodlebug: Yeah, as though you know!

MoonCat: I know this. Hungry. Food. Give it. NOW!

Outright 2023 H. J. Hill All Rights Reserved.

Tyranny of the Clock – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

And I am Sweetie, Queen of all dogs everywhere.

MoonCat: Meow.

Me: Why haven’t y’all eaten your food?

Doodlebug: It was served way too early.

Me: I brought it at the same time I bring your afternoon meal every day. 3 p.m. The clock doesn’t lie.

Sweetie: Clock? What is “clock” and why is she telling me when to eat?

Me: A clock tells time in hours, minutes, and seconds.

MoonCat: Meow. Sounds complicated.

Doodlebug: Yeah, my stomach tells me when to eat. Simple.

Me: Well, the clock tells me when to do things. It’s a tyrant.

Sweetie: Another weird human word. What is a tyrant?

Me: A tyrant is an oppressor that orders everybody else around.

Doodlebug: Oh, why didn’t you say so? I understand now.

Sweetie: Yeah, Lady Human! It’s a perfect description of you. You’re a clock!

Copyright 2023 H.J. Hill All Rights Reserved.

We Don’t Need No Clocks!

Posted on by H.J. Hill

Since a very young age, my daily life has run to the movement of a clock. Time to wake up, time to go to bed, time to go to school, time to go to work, time to go to church, time to go home. Even time to watch my favorite TV shows.

In the old, old days, people had sundials and, before that, they had the sun itself along with the moon and the patterned stars that counted the time as Earth twirled in a trustworthy rhythm on its axis. I believe those may have been steadier, more peaceable days.

Honestly, clocks kind of tick me off. (Sorry for the pun.)

I lose count of how many times a day I check a clock. Am I on time? Am I running late? Where did the day go? I should know. I was there the whole time. My attention to the clock has cost me time by sucking away my focus from where I should have been looking.

Our dogs do very well without clocks, thank you. They carry timers in their stomachs. Brunch is to be served at 11 a.m. precisely, seven days a week. And we had better not be late because massive hubbub ensues if we miss it by even a couple of minutes.

Foot-stomping, loud yawns, strange bulldog vocalizations. And then – BARKING! My interpretation of the mess call goes like this: “Hey! Did y’all forget something? Food! Food! Food!”

Our dog’s internal clocks are never off. They never have to be wound nor have their batteries changed. They are organic, the way I would like for my clocks to be.

“Oh, is it time to eat? My stomach just said so.”

 “How long until sunset? Long enough to play one more round of keep away.”

 “How many minutes are left for nap time? Wait, what’s a minute?”

 I understand. Clocks are human tools. I am a human. I will continue to use our tools. Still, it’s nice every once in a while to think, “What time is it?” and answer, “I don’t care.”

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” Genesis 1:14 KJV

 

Copyright 2016 H.J. Hill All Rights Reserved.