2002-12-21 - 8:39 p.m.
This whole holiday season has had a surreal quality for me.... not exactly bad, just different than usual. I have been whirling through my obligations and social events (I actually managed to make it through four christmas parties, two birthday parties, and one retirement party in the last week.) but am just not getting things done. In fact, I had my old recurring dream the other night: the one where I am acting in a play, and I am in costume, about to go on stage and then I realize that I never learned my lines. The holidays come whether we are ready or not. And you can never just say: I don't have the time, I am not in the mood for it this year. So you go along, set your little holiday boat in the overwhelming river of economic activity and paddle like hell.
Friday was my last day of work until after the New Year! A very happy thing. And today we went shopping. Today we set out for the stores with most of our shopping still undone. And it actually went quite well. The crowds were not too bad, the lines were not incredibly long, the weather was not too cold.
One of the things we had been pondering a lot was what to get for my eleven-year-old nephew Freddie. He is a really neat, creative kid with a wide range of interests, but like most kids he doesn't stick with anything for long. And we didn't want to get him something that was so "last week." His mother and I had some conferences over the phone, and we both have qualms over video games, and she said he didn't put books on his list (my favorite thing to give.) And finally she admitted that even though she had been saying NO to Freddie's request for a new pet, she would agree if we wanted to get him a small animal. Freddie's much-loved Guinea Pig had lived to a ripe old age, and recently died. He wanted another one, and so far hadn't been able to talk his mother into it. Well, that just seemed like a sure thing. And a sure thing for Christmas is worth a bird in the bush.... So after doing all the shopping we could stand, we headed to the nearest pet store, the very one where we purchased the pipsqueak....
There were three Guinea Pigs in a glass enclosure, hiding in a little wooden house. Not knowing anything about them we asked two clerks standing nearby for some information.
"Oh, I don't do the Guinea Pigs. I'm in charge of the puppies." one of them said.
"I'm the dog food representative." the other volunteered. "Call Sabra."
The Guinea Pig lady limped in a few minutes later. She was an older lady, short and wide, decked out in a christmas outfit, complete with a fuzzy Santa hat. I asked her how old the Guniea Pigs were, because they seemed full grown and I was hoping to get a young one. She didn't seem to know that, in fact she didn't really talk directly to us. She reached into the enclosure and picked up the smallest pig, a fuzzy white and carmel colored ball of fluff. She held it up to her face until its nose was touching her nose. It was making little squeeks of fear, and she kept murmuring to it, calling herself Mama. We just stood there watching, waiting for her to say something, maybe explain that she had a trick for calming them down, or....talk to us about Guinea Pigs as pets, or something. The little creature seemed uncomforted by the proximity of the giant nose and mouth, and continued to squirm and squeek. When I asked to see the other one, she repeated the performance, never allowing us to touch it. She just stood there in a world of her own in the crowded store, demonstrating her rapport with Guinea Pigs. We watched for a while, not knowing quite how to respond. And finally I said, "We'll have to think it over." or some such exit line. And then she snapped out of it and said, "Well, they make great pets. But then all animals make great pets."
No, actually they don't. But this is the Guinea Pig lady talking. We are on our way out.
We found the five week old Guinea Pigs and a cheerful and sane sales clerk at another pet store. And now we have a little black and brown critter living in a cedar-chip-filled plastic tub in our kitchen. We made him a little cardboard hut in which to hide, and he hasn't ventured out. I've never had a Guinea Pig before, but presumably if kids can raise them, surely two adults can keep one alive until Christmas Eve. Now we just have to figure out how to launch the surprise, since we can't exactly put the little guy in a box under the tree!
�
