Well, 10th Anniversary FMLers:
 
Looks like we're gonna hafta have a vote on which sorta Whattie** it is in
the 'O Canada' movie at the Canadian pavilion at Epcot.
 
Have gotten some interesting email since my previous post on seeing what
looked like a ferrety-sort in the 'O Canada' movie, so I suggest that a
bunch of us go together (or separtely, or in groups over the few days we're
all in Orlando for the celebration) and have a good look, then cast our
votes!
 
Is it a ferret, or an otter, or a weasel, or a mink, or a poley (pole cat?),
or WHAT!?
 
** Whattie -- term of endearment for all small unidentified furry creatures.
A term coined by my husband and I back in the 'bad old days' when ferrets
were illegal in Massachusetts.  In order to avoid 'suspicion,' we would
refer to the fuzzies variously as the 'bunnies,' the 'fur children,' or
'funny bunnies' so as not to say the word 'ferret' in public.  Since they're
legal, of course, whenever we have occasion to discuss them when we're out
and about, we say 'ferret, Ferret, FERRET .... there, I SAID it... ain't it
grand just to be able to SAY IT OUT LOUD?!!' ANYWAY, I started also calling
them 'Whatties' after the fact that whenever I took them to the vet, I'd be
sitting in the waiting room, and people would come over and peer into the
cage, and the first words out of their mouths would invariably be 'WHAT is
that?' Hence, 'Whattie'.  Now we use it in a more general sense in
conversation, such as while driving along, if some small fuzzy thing dashes
across the road in front of us, we'll say 'Whoa!  Watch out for the
Whattie!' Or, at animal shows on TV: 'Come in here, dear, and take a look at
this Whattie!'
 
CUDDLES TO ALL WHATTIES
[Posted in FML issue 2161]