Cap-Happy
August 25, 2006 - 9:34 a.m.
One of Sandy�s administrative duties here is to email to the office a �daily bulletin� � who�s out, what meetings are taking place, birthdays, blah-bitty-blah-blah. At the top of each bulletin she pastes a photo, usually a nature scene, some lovely animal(s), the Red Sox winning the World Series, or some other cheery image.
Imagine my delight yesterday when I opened the bulletin and was greeted by this:
A capybara! Yea for capybaras!
Oh, god. She�s completely lost it.
I LOVE cappies.
Mmm-hmm.
Sandy didn�t get it either. She had never heard of capybaras and upon learning that they are the largest living rodent, was immediately put off.
But come on, they�re cute! Like ginormous guinea pigs!
I proceeded to tell Sandy the story of how Olivia and I have shared a lifelong affection for cappies. It all started in second grade with this book, written and illustrated by Bill Peet and first published around 1966:
I don�t know if anyone else at GRM Elementary School had a chance to read Capyboppy that year because between Olivia and me, I think it was always checked out.
Our love affair with the large rodent continued. Some years ago, when I told Olivia there was a capybara at the local zoo, she demanded photos. Of course, that wasn�t good enough. On her next visit to Rhode Island, we want to the zoo so she could meet the cappy in person.
Every once in a while, we will email the other a capybara picture. No hello, no message, just a picture of a cappy, out of the blue.
A couple of birthdays ago, Olivia gave me a beautiful pewter sunflowers frame. Before wrapping it, she inserted a picture:
by Will Bullas, creator of some punny animal art
Last Christmas, I came up with a �why didn�t I think of it sooner?� gift for Olivia. I bought her a copy of Capyboppy. She was delighted.
Needless to say, someone outside the firm received a portion of yesterday�s e-bulletin.
Autumn
Stuck in my head : �Parabola� � Tool
P.S. On the subject of non-native animals, is anyone out there watching �Meerkat Manor?�
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