Wednesday, December 08, 2021 (December’s fullest moon [“Cold Moon”] rises on the 18th.)
A small stuffed sloth was the toy first to capture my imagination.
The feed store where I work has customers coming through my cash register line with items needed for work and their large animals. They’ll often toss in a toy or two for their dogs. Customers and I laugh over cute squeaky toys, in shared moments that nudge me to take cute toys to my new puppy, Mitzvah.
She loves toys, holds and squeaks them, even while running. A couple of small balls from the feed store delighted her weeks ago when I adopted her. The toy most familiar to me is a ball, the favorite among my herding dogs. Over the last weeks and now with a small dog, while handling toys for customers I’ve thought about widening my scope.
Yesterday I spent time browsing the store’s toy section. I saw toys that have come across my check-stand and delighted me, but not now. The huge array of possibilities gave me a rather helpless feeling for deciding what beyond balls to hand my puppy. I didn’t realize how personal my choice would be, until I spotted the sloth.
I love sloths. Real ones, I mean. They’re one of the slowest animals on earth (maximum speed when threatened is 0.17 mph). They’re known to be one of the smartest animals. They’re also funny, very noisy, can live up to forty years, and aren’t good as pets. They’re very cute, and enough so, to diminish a social “bad rap”, for representing slowness from unwillingness and/or laziness.
Similar unpleasant notions exist about other fine animals. Like possums, which many people dislike, assuming terrible things about them. If humans would do even a slight bit of research before making assumptions based on appearances and mannerisms, we’d all feel awed by the wonderfulness of many animals that otherwise many of us downplay.
But I digress.
I brought home the stuffed possum, gave it to Mitzvah. Today as I write, constant squeaking sounds come from all corners in the house announcing, Mitzvah is busy.
It’s not occurred to me that maybe toy-type purchases reflect an individual’s outlooks and philosophies. Maybe pet-toy choices aren’t particularly random, and instead reflect rather closely some of a chooser’s inner-senses.
Dear Friends: Routine check-outs of animal toys will have me reflecting. Diana
Diana's Morning Blog 