April 21, 1995
Dear Everyone:
Regrettably, I must report a tragedy. On
Easter Sunday,
as I was leaving my apartment, I glanced over to check on the Mama
Bird…and she was gone. Her eggs
were gone and half the nest was lying on the pavement below the fire
extinguisher. “Jeannie” thought
it might have been the wind, but I suspect that one or more of the
neighborhood children found the nest and couldn't resist helping
themselves to "real" Easter eggs. The
reason I don't think it was the wind is that there were no signs of any
smashed little eggs on the pavement along with the nest.
Oh, well.
Better luck next spring.
In other news…
When I was in Texas, among other places, last month, I suddenly realized
that I had to find a present to bring home for “Jeannie”.
You know how it is; no matter how
old they get, the first question they ask when you come in the door is,
"Did you bring me anything?"
Actually, what reminded me of this familial obligation was “Jerry”, who
was busily filling his suitcase with sports-related clothes for his baby
boy. By the time we left
Oklahoma, there were more clothes in the bag for “Bradley” than for his
father.
So I started looking for something tasteful, yet distinctive; and what
did I find in an airport gift shop but Muffy Vanderbear.
Now, for those of you who don't
follow this sort of thing, Muffy (not to mention her many little
friends) is quite the collector's item. She
stands about 6-8" tall and has an outfit for every occasion.
In this instance, she was wearing
her Wild West Outfit, appropriate for the Houston Intercontinental
Airport.
So I got “Jeannie” her very own Muffy Vanderbear.
She was delighted, naturally.
You know how “Jeannie” is about
bears, going back to her first birthday present.
The important thing here is:
From now on, you will never have
to rack your brains, trying to come up with a gift for “Jeannie”.
She has a built-in "appropriate
gift" for any and all occasions. Just
get Muffy a new outfit. These are
called "Vanderbear Wear."
For Easter, I tried to find an Easter Outfit.
Muffy does have a "bunny suit",
complete with ears and basket; but the store didn't have any.
So I got the "Spring Flowers"
outfit, which consists of shorts, an embroidered top and a garland with
rubber bands that fit over Muffy's ears to hold it in place (doesn't
sound too comfortable to me, but you know what they say, "beauty
hurts".) If you don't think this
was a big deal, you didn't see “Jeannie” spending 20 minutes figuring
out how to get Muffy out of
her Wild West Outfit and into
her new Spring Flowers outfit.
(Slightly out-of-focus photos are included for “Frankie” and “Alice”,
who can forward them as they feel appropriate.)
So keep this in mind. You'll find
Vanderbear Wear at your more expensive boutiques.
The outfits can be a bit pricey,
but you can always find someone to go in with you.
And Muffy currently has
nothing to wear for Labor
Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day,
St. Patrick's Day…
More “Jeannie” News…
“Jeannie” came out of a shop one day last week, went to unlock her car
and found a strange man sitting behind the wheel.
“Jeannie”: "What are you doing in
my car?"
Strange Man: "I'm not in your
car. This is my car."
“Jeannie” (feeling foolish): "Oh,
sorry."
Goes around the car, looks at the license plate and comes back.
“Jeannie”: "This is
too my car!"
Strange Man (obviously experienced in dealing with lunatics):
"No, this is
my car."
At about this point, someone else got into his truck and pulled out,
revealing an identical car on the other side.
Both cars were this year's black
Honda Civic
Hatchback. Both came from
(“Jeannie's” words) "the
Walnut
Creek Honda Store". License
plate numbers differed only by one digit.
“Jeannie” decided the second car was
really her car, got in and
drove home.
Love, as always,
Pete
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