News of Arnold Schwarzenegger winning the California gubernatorial race
may mean good news not just for ferrets in California, but also for
Jeanne Carley's hairdresser.  Let me explain for those of you who were
not at last weekend's ferret symposium in Atlanta.
 
On Saturday, Jeanne gave one of her wonderful talks about how she
captures those incredible ferret expressions for her calendars.  Everyone
in the room was enchanted, completely taken in by her gorgeous
photography and those priceless ferret poses projected in a slide show.
In fact, many of us were rolling on the floor laughing when all of a
sudden the lights came on and a police officer marched over to Jeanne,
asking if she was from California and if she had any identification!
Collectively we gasped - how could this be?  We're not in California!
It may not have been more than 30 seconds before we all caught on that
this was a "joke" - but I can tell you it was the longest 30 seconds
I've experienced.
 
Immediately afterwards my first thought was "Where is my camera!  And why
isn't it on?"  The expression on Jeanne's face was not to be believed.  I
imagine her heart was racing for some time after that.  She finished her
slide show, but there was some diminishment of her enthusiasm.
 
Later, at the celebrity auction, Jeanne showed up looking a bit worn
and her usually brunette hair was decidedly silver!  Did she suffer more
than we knew?  There was a bit of tension later when the winner of a
photograph that Jeanne had donated came up to the podium.  Jeanne siezed
the opportunity to let BIG know that she felt his "joke" was not so funny
and that her health, not to mention her hair, was suffering greatly.  BIG
denied any knowledge of the policeman's shenanigans, at which point
Jeanne attempted to strangle him.  It wasn't pretty.
 
http://homepage.mac.com/helenmclean/ferrets_2003/strangle.html
[LOTS more pictures coming soon.]
 
Let's hope that the outcome of California's political debacle means good
news for ferrets and good news for Jeanne.
 
Helen
[Posted in FML issue 4295]