Today I was thinking...
...about a bunny rabbit that we had when I was a kid. Looking back, I can't imagine why my father would have allowed us to obtain a rabbit in the first place. He wasn't exactly what you would call an animal philanthropist. But somehow, we did have a rabbit. I'm sure that my mother had something to do with that. She was omni-philanthropic and probably had something to do with the "I'd like to Teach the World to Sing" Coke commercial.
We must not have had it for very long because for the most part, all I can recall of the rabbit was it's death. It burrowed a little summer cabin under the side porch. The porch itself was a 3X3 foot square piece of concrete that was no deeper than the dirt so it was easily burrowed under. Our yard was fenced in and the rabbit never left the yard...that's another thing I remember about it. Anyway, it liked to hang out under the porch.
One year there was a pretty heavy thunderstorm and somehow, the rabbit drowned under the porch. I don't remember actually SEEING it happen, but that's what I was told. Of course, my mother told me she was taking our collie to a beauty parlor appointment for dogs only the dog never came back. I don't know what happened to that dog.
A lot of creatures came into our house but I don't remember how they left. I was thinking about the chameleons that we bought at the Illinois State Fair. They were 4 for a $1.00 and they had a piece of string tied carefully around it's neck and the other end of the string was attached to a safety pin. I would pin those lizards to my chest every year and walk proudly around the fair. Except for one lizard that died tragically when my father accidentally stepped on it (at least he SAID that it was an accident), I don't remember what ever became of those chameleons.
I remember obtaining a bunch of animals, but I don't know what happened to 99% of them. I remember catching minnows and tadpoles in a pond near our house but I don't know what the heck I did with them. I know that one bucketful was thrown all over the living room because I hung it on the door knob and my father threw the door open from the other side, sending tadpoles, minnows and an occasional crayfish all over my mother's living room carpet and furniture. No one was happy with me that day. But at least I know what happened to those, I don't know where the rest of my childhood animals went.
Chameleons, hamsters, guinea pigs and tadpoles...I don't know where any of them ended up after I obtained them. There must have been an official releaser of the animals and I would wager all of my children that it was my father.
My mother wouldn't be able to hurt, in any way, any animal. She would let her house get messed up, she didn't care. As long as all of God's creatures were happy, she was too. She had a saying, "Crickets are our friends." that she made us all repeat when we were afraid of the chirping that we heard, especially if it was coming from INSIDE the house.
Once, in the middle of the night, I woke up to go to the bathroom and there was a mouse swimming along the perimeter of the water in the toilet bowl, trying to get out. I woke my mother up saying, "Mom, there's a mouse in the toilet!"
She answered sleepily, "I know. I didn't have the heart to flush it down."So, rather than letting it die a mercifully quick death, she left it in there to be terrorized as it fought to the end for it's little life. I went and got a milk bottle (back in the day when milk containers were glass) and fished the thing out of the toilet. I adopted it as a pet and I'm sure that I gave it a name but I don't for the life of me remember what it was. It lived in the milk bottle along with a stick and some grass. Until...well, I don't know when. Like I said, I'm sure that my father had something to do with the disappearance of all of these animals. I'll have to ask him about that sometime.
:):):)
...about a bunny rabbit that we had when I was a kid. Looking back, I can't imagine why my father would have allowed us to obtain a rabbit in the first place. He wasn't exactly what you would call an animal philanthropist. But somehow, we did have a rabbit. I'm sure that my mother had something to do with that. She was omni-philanthropic and probably had something to do with the "I'd like to Teach the World to Sing" Coke commercial.
We must not have had it for very long because for the most part, all I can recall of the rabbit was it's death. It burrowed a little summer cabin under the side porch. The porch itself was a 3X3 foot square piece of concrete that was no deeper than the dirt so it was easily burrowed under. Our yard was fenced in and the rabbit never left the yard...that's another thing I remember about it. Anyway, it liked to hang out under the porch.
One year there was a pretty heavy thunderstorm and somehow, the rabbit drowned under the porch. I don't remember actually SEEING it happen, but that's what I was told. Of course, my mother told me she was taking our collie to a beauty parlor appointment for dogs only the dog never came back. I don't know what happened to that dog.
A lot of creatures came into our house but I don't remember how they left. I was thinking about the chameleons that we bought at the Illinois State Fair. They were 4 for a $1.00 and they had a piece of string tied carefully around it's neck and the other end of the string was attached to a safety pin. I would pin those lizards to my chest every year and walk proudly around the fair. Except for one lizard that died tragically when my father accidentally stepped on it (at least he SAID that it was an accident), I don't remember what ever became of those chameleons.
I remember obtaining a bunch of animals, but I don't know what happened to 99% of them. I remember catching minnows and tadpoles in a pond near our house but I don't know what the heck I did with them. I know that one bucketful was thrown all over the living room because I hung it on the door knob and my father threw the door open from the other side, sending tadpoles, minnows and an occasional crayfish all over my mother's living room carpet and furniture. No one was happy with me that day. But at least I know what happened to those, I don't know where the rest of my childhood animals went.
Chameleons, hamsters, guinea pigs and tadpoles...I don't know where any of them ended up after I obtained them. There must have been an official releaser of the animals and I would wager all of my children that it was my father.
My mother wouldn't be able to hurt, in any way, any animal. She would let her house get messed up, she didn't care. As long as all of God's creatures were happy, she was too. She had a saying, "Crickets are our friends." that she made us all repeat when we were afraid of the chirping that we heard, especially if it was coming from INSIDE the house.
Once, in the middle of the night, I woke up to go to the bathroom and there was a mouse swimming along the perimeter of the water in the toilet bowl, trying to get out. I woke my mother up saying, "Mom, there's a mouse in the toilet!"
She answered sleepily, "I know. I didn't have the heart to flush it down."So, rather than letting it die a mercifully quick death, she left it in there to be terrorized as it fought to the end for it's little life. I went and got a milk bottle (back in the day when milk containers were glass) and fished the thing out of the toilet. I adopted it as a pet and I'm sure that I gave it a name but I don't for the life of me remember what it was. It lived in the milk bottle along with a stick and some grass. Until...well, I don't know when. Like I said, I'm sure that my father had something to do with the disappearance of all of these animals. I'll have to ask him about that sometime.
:):):)
posted by Meg Kelso | 8:50 AM
1 Comments:
Did ya catch my fish story? I'm so with you. I also have a mouse story- maybe I'll post that next!
Post a Comment
<< Home