Hi, all.
 
I met a little guy coming across the Bridge the other day.  His name was
Nico, and he was so happy that he could see again!  The first thing he
did was to run over to the clear deep spring and look at his reflection
in the water.  He saw himself young and strong and handsome again, and
knew that it was true.  This was his forever, forever home.  There is
forever love here, and he has his dignity back, too.  No more litterbox
shame, ever!
 
Nico has a best friend here, too.  Cocoa, who came across the Bridge at
almost the same time that Nico did.
 
Well, Nico and Cocoa had such a huge Business waiting to see them, that
we had a separate party just for the reunion, apart from the Greeting.
Sometimes that's the best way when a Shelter Business wants to come
together.  Cocoa's sister and four brothers were there, as well as some
of their buddies from home.  Altogether, it was Nico, Cocoa, Oliver,
Princess, Bubba, Mr. Burton (who hasn't been with us for very long,
either), Seth, Gabby, Fuzzy, Mario, Leo, Ron, and Ashley.
 
And what a party it was!  Someone leaked the word to the Wild Black
Footed Ferrets, and they showed up with several ice cold beers.  They
came through the grass laughing, and rolling the beers on their sides
like logs to move them along.  There were little wet nose prints all
over the sides!
 
All of Mr. Burton's new friends crashed the party, too, even SARAFERRET
made a visit!  You should see what SHE'S like after a few licks of beer.
Her Halo slipped farther and farther down the side of her head, we
thought it was finally going to fall off!  It didn't, though, and we were
all sort of disappointed, especially the Black Footed Ferrets who wanted
to use it as a frisbee!
 
I met another little guy coming across the Bridge.  His name was
Oleander.  Grandfather Oleander, actually.  He had a very long life.
His Business was there to greet him.  Snapper, DW, EZ, Bay, Draco, and
Storm were all so happy to see their friend again!  They helped Oleander
to strap on his new wings.  The plan was to fly away together and go to
the high mountains where there is always snow to play in, but, well,
Oleander had a problem.  He lifted off just fine, and his friends started
to lift off one by one behind him, to ride the winds.
 
Oleander, however, got very scared every time he looked down.  He tried
not to look down, but of course he couldn't help it.  You do have to look
down to navigate.  The whole Business settled back down to the ground,
gently, into the long grass and the white dasies, and talked about the
problem.  Well, not everyone is good at flying.  It's just one of those
things.
 
It's a good thing to have friends, no matter where you are.  Oleander has
very good friends, indeed.  Snapper, Bay, Storm, and Draco all held one
of the four hanging straps to Oleander's new hammie in their mouths, and
got pointed into the wind.  Oleander carefully stepped into the middle of
the hammie, and hunkered down, his eyes squeezed firmly shut.  DW and EZ
lifted off first to check for turbulence.  Finding the air still, they
called down their friends to lift off.  All four did, very gently, and
Oleander rose up into the sky with his friends that way.
 
Away they flew, over the fields, and the slowly rising green hills that
lead to the high mountains.  The winds blew fiercely around the tall
gray granite peaks.  Oleander swung back and forth, safe and warm in
his hammie, most definitely NOT looking down!  Everybody landed well, and
the last I heard, all seven of them ended the day in the mountain lodge,
lapping up warm cocoa.  It's good to have friends!  They learned that
sort of love at home, but that's not really a surprise, is it?  Their
Mommy Tracy loved them so very, very much.  One day they will all be
together again.
 
I also met a little girl who came across the Bridge.  Her name was
Cinnamon, and she said that her Mommy had told her about the Bridge, so
she wasn't the least bit shocked or surprised to be here.  Cinnamon and
I made an immediate bee-line for the Fruit Bar.  She was so very hungry
after her final illness, and she said that it was a pure joy to be able
to feast as much as she wanted without feeling ill at either end!
 
Cinnamon is one of those girls who loves to eat watermelon chunks, even
though the juice gets all over her face fur, down her bib fur, even her
paws were sweet and sopping by the time she was done!  But she was a very
happy, very full weasel with a round hard belly by the time she was done.
It was a beautiful warm day with a gentle drying breeze, so she just
rolled in the grass for a while, and took a nap in the sun.  I took a
nap, too.  When we woke up what did we do?  Go back for MORE, of course!
 
I was asked by some Hoomins, Cheryl and Wendy, to check up on their three
ferrets Oscar, Lilly and Arielle who are here on our side of the Bridge.
 
Well, Lilly couldn't be found, and we are pretty sure that this is how
she wants things to be.  Lilly was always very independent, she didn't
need or want any other ferrets for company.  Right after she got here,
Oscar would see her standing in the long grass, looking out at him from
it once in a while, but that's all it ever was, just a brief look before
she slipped back into the grass.  I suppose that if I had to, I could ask
the Big Boss where she is these days, but Oscar and Arielle think that
right now, she just needs her privacy.  We call this "going polecat."  It
isn't a bad thing, just unusual.
 
Oh, I almost forgot, she does make an occasional appearance at the Fruit
Bar to stuff her mouth with rasins, and then zip away.  I think she is
just a lady who knows what she wants!
 
Oscar, for his part, spends lots of time with his friend Abner.  The
two of them share a lovely 1957 Cadillac convertible!  It is sky blue,
and has fins a mile long in the back.  The interior is white leather
upholstry.  They love to scramble into the back seat where they have
a snug burrow way down deep inside all of the springs and insulation.
 
Arielle spends a lot of her days with other ferrets who at some point in
their lives had Very Bad Hoomins.  Fortunately, Arielle wound up in a
good forever home, but she never forgets to be greatful for leaving the
bad times behind.  Some of our Brothers and Sisters in Fur are quite
badly scarred by their experiences with Bad Hoomins.  With the love and
understanding of their Brothers and Sisters who have been through the
same things, they tend to heal very quickly here.  There is a lot of
love here, and sometimes there is need for a lot of forgiveness, too.
It is just better to lay the burden down and be free.  Arielle is an
instrument of healing, here, and we have a lot of respect for ferrets
who are in her line of work.  We also wish that there were no need, if
you understand that...there are many here who will always benefit from
the seeds of love that her Good Hoomins sowed in her heart.
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 4445]