Take some smooth marbles and drop them into a sturdy shoe-box. Add a few water-worn round stones. Slap a lid on that box, and tip it to one side. Hear that frenzy of rocks and marbles rushing against and over one another in a race to the other side? Tip it again. Tip it again.

Look at your alarm clock. At least one hour before the alarm will go off I realize I am not playing with marbles. Animals are rushing back and forth over hardwood. Cats skitter across the boards and behind them are the dogs.

They are too heavy, clumsy, and uninterested in stopping before they hit the area rug and go sledding across the wood on a nice, braided antique before they collide with a wall.