'Musings On 'The Inherent Sweetness Of Stuffed Toys', For My Dearest Friend, "Tenar" '

‘ Musings On ‘The Inherent Sweetness Of Stuffed Toys’, For My Dearest Friend, “Tenar”; In Addition To Other, Stray Thoughts re: This Dreaded ‘Valentine’s Day’’

02/02/12

Should you, my dearest friends, and ever-loyal readers consider yourselves as true clock-watchers, and thus in true demarcation, at, now—2:08 PM—to infer that almost half the day has been fully shot, then, for you, Valentine’s Days is scarcely eleven+ days away; which as a free service to my dear friends, pause to yet alert you of the holiday’s soon arrival, at least some mental pre-preparations should be thought of.  And this is true for everyone who observes, or expects to observe this holiday especially, the gentlemen out there, to whom I would advise, “Forget it, and regret it !”,

For after having worked a long night shift, and having to stop by the grocery store on my way home, the day AFTER Valentine’s Day; I watched a score of men run up and down the aisles; desperate, hunted, and wild-eyed, trying to find ANYTHING remotely heart-shaped, that had candy, or an handful of plastic, scented roses ( not even a holiday card, as that required too much time ), as they had quite forgotten the holiday, and—frankly—were in deep shit with their wives or girlfriends, and looking at an indefinite period of having to sleep on the couch…or, on the floor !

For retail florists, Valentine’s Day is without question their most profitable day of the year, followed at a distance by Mother’s Day, and Christmas lagging far behind.

And why not.  Or should I attempt to say, ‘Und wie nicht ?’, since the standard offering of twelve ( why twelve ? ) American Beauty, long-stemmed roses are priced up to $175.00 ??????

And in this horrible economy, with so much joblessness, who can ready, ‘ up the ante’; ‘pay the kitty’ ( gambling terms, which are somehow most appropriate ), to even think of that kind of money.

And, if you are among the true masochists of the world, and want to throw in dinner at a pricier place that you could not afford to go to any time the rest of the year.

I think, as some over-blown proclamation of supposed love and regard, Valentine’s Day has long-surpassed Christmas, or Kwanzaa, or Chanukah, in some weird concoction of fealty mixed with desperation.

Oh…and I happened to forget any gifts of jewelry.

ALL this in homage to a largely forgotten Saint of the fourteenth Century ( ? ), who was arrested by Claudius, for secretly marrying Christian couples, and when stoning did not kill him, nor did a variety of tortures, he was imprisoned, and then beheaded ( ouch! ), but, not before he had fallen in love with his jailor’s daughter, and wrote a love letter to her, signing it…wait for it…” Your Valentine “.

How it subsequently blossomed into the ‘bat-shit-crazy’ frenzy that it has since become, I leave that to wiser heads than mind; mostly, because I just don’t care.

But…and it is here, that I try to go back ‘on topic’, that part of the many oddments that people give to each other are ‘stuffed’ toys; toys of all kinds, representing, somehow, love, viz: ‘Teddy Bears’, whose soft, fake fur, and smile, and little, button eyes have long since been given as gifts to everyone: mates, friends, relatives, and children.  And are offered up at all holidays, birthdays, and hospital visits.

Why bears ? And why are they considered to be SO cute; their ‘real-life nature counterparts’ are anything but; the genuine, ‘live’ ones are huge, fast ( faster than a human can run, BTW ), with long claws, and LOTS of teeth, all of which they will most gladly employ to turn you into lunch.

Maybe we have mid-nineteenth century Britain to blame for the original Teddy Bear.

And, although the antique ones fetch thousands, their current members ARE sort of cute, dammit.

But other wild and wooly, and even dangerous animals have been transmogrified into cutesy, little toys;  think of the “Beanie Baby” craze…I largely rest my case.

And while this is not intended as a plug, or promotion, should you receive a, “ Nature’s Wildlife Fund “, catalogue, you can—at increasing dollar increments help ‘save’ endangered species, and thus, can ‘adopt’ one of its animal members, and with ‘adoption papers’, get a small stuffed toy in its likeness.

And, while the “Snowshoe Hare” stuffed toy, was a harmless, cuddly, soft, and cute representation of an also harmless herbivore, some of these endangered animals—while made to be cute—would, in their real-life forms strive to divest you of your life.

‘  And Now, A Brief Time Of Looking Back   ‘

And, I think that these stuffed toys must be so endearing, that they are kept long after the giving moment has passed.  Long after all the flowers have faded, and been tossed; long after any attendant candy has been eaten; long after any greeting card that remarks upon an event is either lost or, thrown away, these damn things linger on,  and on, and on.

How long, may you ask ?

Despite the transient’s existence imposed on my family and  me from my late father’s life in the Army, during which we moved as nomads for nearly all of my school years until the tenth grade; ALL that packing, moving, unpacking, moving, etc., would cause one to wonder how anything would survive that life intact.

  Currently, in a grocery bag, which previously knew the confines of storage, boxes, and crates, surviving ALL the moving, and almost every possible neglect and/or abuse, I have a medium-sized, stuffed-toy bunny, given to me by my Grandmother when I was a year old, making both it, and me an antique at fifty-seven years !

Also, from my early childhood, I still have a grey, stuffed toy elephant, with red, flapping ears, with little bells inside, and, for those of you old enough to remember them, I—too—have a little, stuffed toy bear, which, when wound, played the theme song to, “Davey Crockett, King of the wild frontier “, whose mechanism has not worked in over fifty-five years.

Actually, all things considered, all of them are in fairly decent shape; worthless as antiques, but priceless as an adjunct to near-forgotten memory.

In addition, since the varied ‘themen’ of my attempts to redecorate my house ( on the cheap !), include Victoriana; Steam Punk; Museum; Asian, and primitive African Art, as well as some Roman; Egyptian; and Greek things, a very, dear friend of mine recently bought for me a medium-sized, stuffed toy zebra, named, appropriately, ‘Zahc’, and a small, little zebra box to hold trinkets, and I have a resin, zebra family in the bathroom, and somewhere in a box, a picture of a zebra.

Both elephants, and zebras are well-represented in my home: elephants, because—to me—they represent longevity; wisdom; and good luck; zebras, because…ah….well, I like them because they are pretty, AND are just mean, little bastards.

And how do I know this?

Because a friend I know has on her property, two zebras, and, in giving them their hay via pitchfork, one has to approach them carefully, and back out, again, with the tines of the pitchfork pointing at them, or they will seriously attack one.

It does raise the question why anyone would want to try to own ‘wild’ animals, which—without one shred of remorse—would seek to try, ever, to both bite and kick one into the Emergency Room.

But then, I wouldn’t want to try to own an elephant, either.

The representations of most of God’s critters are most easily tolerated as stuffed toys.

And, so, to all, I would wish for you happy, healthy days, of lessened, or NO pain; quiet, and contemplative evenings, and nights of blissful slumber, sung quietly to by blessed angels; I also have NO problem if you choose to keep you favorite stuffed toy with you, to protect you through the night !

I love you dearly,

‘Zahc’