Hi, all-
 
It was a slow week, those are the best ones, I think.  For all that it
was slow, a lot of things happened.
 
I met a little guy named Jeffrey coming across the Bridge.  It was an
extra joyous Greeting, Because Jeffrey is part of Saraferret's Business.
She stood with me to Greet him along with Igloo, Wild Bill (Jeffrey's old
cagemate), Max, and Ruby.
 
Saraferret was very nervous, she had never Greeted one of her own
Brothers or Sisters in Fur, and it is a big responsibility!  You have to
understand about Saraferret that although she is an unrepentant biter,
she doesn't always have the full confidence in herself that I and the Big
Boss have in her.  I knew that she would Greet her own with compassion
and dignity, even if her head was way too small, and kind of crooked, and
her wings were kind of slept in, and her uniform was kind of slept in,
too.  The little details are beyond her, but she is very good at what she
does, and that is what matters.
 
Just don't stand too close!  She loves a good bite the way I love rasins.
(Prunes, really!  Prunes are my favourite.  Think of them as sweet,
Turbo-Rasins!  From my little perspective, they are about the same size
as turkeys are to you!)
 
Anyway, Saraferret and her Business and I waited for Jeffrey to make the
trip, which he did with no hesitation or sign of anxiety.  According to
him, he had been looking forward to crossing the Bridge in a way, his
final illness left him so tired all of the time.  A ferret with no bounce
left at all is a very sad ferret indeed!
 
His Business closed around him in a circle, touching and nuzzling and
grooming him, even Wild Bill, who has trouble doing *anything* gently for
long!  It was really very touching seeing Wild Bill try to be tranquill
and dignified for his old cagemate's Greeting, I knew it was a real
stretch for him, and so did everyone else.  It made the Greting that much
more special.
 
In the end it was just me, Saraferret, Jeffrey, and Wild Bill.  Everyone
else finally wandered off to see that lilac bush that blooms either
purple or white.  Today, of all things, it was blooming *both*!  Go
figure.  Either way, it smells like sweet spring every day!
 
The four of us strapped on our wings except for Saraferret, who just had
to straighten the harness that attatched hers, and we lifted off, one by
one with myself in the lead.  I knew just where I wanted to go.
 
We flew over fields of long grass that waved and rippled beneath us in
the breeze.  We flew over forests of broad-leafed deciduous trees that
gave way to their older cousins, the pines.  The pines got smaller and
scrubbier, and we were *very* far north.  Grass gave way to sedges, and
we could see the gray bedrock and little berry bushes beneath us.  It
got cool and cooler, but not really cold.  I picked a flat stretch of
bedrock, and joined my shadow.  My friends followed me one by one back
to the ground.
 
It was really sort of hard to land, because the landscape was so
distracting!  All around us were huge stretches of arctic poppies nodding
in the sun.  Orange, white and yellow, their crinkled blossoms were so
fresh, so beautiful!  The green fuzzy buds were so soft to my nose, and
bounced when I touched them with it.  The littlest breeze set literally
thousands of them to dancing, it was an awesome sight!
 
We sat and just looked around ourselves for a time, then Jeffrey began
telling us about his life, and how he was rescued from Bad Hoomins who
neglected him, and how he came to live with his and Wild Bill's and
Saraferret's Mommy.  He had some really funny stories to tell about her!
Someday, a long time from now, they will be together again, and Jeffrey
is looking forward to a long belly rub from her!
 
Well, that made Saraferret begin to cry.  Although she acts so tough and
independant, she is really very sensitive, and this was her Mommy, too,
that they were talking about.  She didn't want anyone to know that there
were tears trying to trickle down her snout through her whiskers, but we
knew.  We just didn't say anything when she tried to pretend that all
that poppy pollen around us was getting to her.
 
The sun was warm on the fur of our backs, but not too warm.  The tundra
and the flowers around us were so dramatic, so beautiful, and we were
warmed further by the best memories, memories of love.
 
It was a good time.
 
I met another little guy coming across the Bridge this week.  his name
was Rocky, and he was a little confused, at first.  Not scared, he just
needed an explanation, which I gave him right away.  I think that there
is no reason not to tell our new friends what is going on, if I think
that they can handle it, which he could.  Everybody wants to know where
they stand in the grand scheme of things!  It's our nature.  We ferrets
are *very* curious!
 
It turns out that Rocky was asleep when he passed from the World of the
Living, and that accounted for his confusion.  Totally understandable!
He was very happy to learn that he was now in his Forever Home, as he,
like so many of us, was rescued from Hoomins who were unable or unwilling
to care from him properly at one point in his life.
 
He said that he was very fortunate, his new Daddy Ronald took very good
care of him and gave him lots and lots of love.  He is really looking
forward to the day that they are together again.  His tail bottle-brushed
up just talking about it!
 
I introduced him to two members of his Business that he had never met,
Scruffy and Cloud Dancer.  They hit it off right away, they really did
have so much in common!
 
Cloud Dancer wanted to show him the Big Boss's Greenhouse.  Well, I
hadn't been there in a long time and it is a pretty cool place, so I was
really pleased by Cloud Dancer's choice, even though at first Rocky said
he was interested in the Dirt Mountain for some digging.  They agreed to
go there tomorrow, instead.  We have so very many tomorrows, here!
 
It is only a short flight to the Greenhouse.  The Big Boss doesn't mind
visitors, he does mind if we dig in the pots or displays.  That is
*strictly forbidden*!  I had to get a promise from Rocky that there would
be no digging until tomorrow, and he gave me his word, so we went in.
 
A blast of humidity made our fur feel like it weighed double when we went
in, but it smells so darn good in there that a ferret hardly notices.
Smell is very important to us!  Smells can warn us, they can take us
home, they tell us so very many things that you Hoomins miss!  Smell is
as important as color is to you primates, more, even!
 
The Greenhouse is huge, there are acres of winding pathways and tables
and benches and trellises to climb.  It's wonderful!  You can push your
way between aromatic stems, scramble up the rough bark of trees and
shrubs with your claws, walk on soft, moist moss!  And it all smells
soooooo good!
 
Cloud Dancer went off by himself, but after a few minutes he called us
all to him.  He had found a small pond full of Victoria Lilies!  There
were only two pads in it, but that was more than enough for some really
good playing.  The pads are a full three or four feet across, and have a
raised lip along the edge so that they can carry a lot of weight like a
little flat boat.  Can they support the weight of an adult ferret?
Absolutely!  Heck, each one could carry all of us!
 
We had a lot of fun standing on the little white pebbles edging the pond
and jumping on top of the pads!  It took a huge leap that stretched us
out all the way as we sailed through the fragrant air.  It was so
exciting!
 
A little too exciting, actually, when Rocky, the last one standing
ashore, flubbed his leap, misjudging by just an inch or two.  (Well,
in all fairness, he had never done this before, his Daddy Ronald didn't
have anything like this at home.) Down Rocky went with a splash and some
kicks!  The water flew everywhere, and Rocky came up covered with tiny
duckweed, the world's smallest flowering plant which lay floating on top
of the pond like a green scum.  Rocky *wasn't* a sable anymore.  He was,
ah, shall we say an eco-friendly green?
 
Oh, it was hilarious!  Rocky ottered over to the pebbles, and the water
and the duckweed just poured off of him!  He even had it clinging to his
whiskers!  Before you think we are too mean, I want to let you know that
we did help him groom once we made the leaps back to the shore.  (We all
made it dry!)
 
I will never forget it.  I bet Rocky never does, too!
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 4508]