George & i were talking about the first time we'd each ever seen a ferret.
His story is better than mine.
 
George's story: He grew up in a tiny town in rural Ohio.  As a child (this
is maybe 40 or 45 years ago), he hung around with a lot of the old duffers.
One of them often went to the farm auctions & was known for bringing home
animals that were on the strange side (3 legged goat, etc.).  One time
little Georgie went into this man's yard & saw a rabbit hutch full of
something weird; whatever they were were long & slinky & stood upright to
get a good look at him and sort of swayed in unison. & they stunk.  They
were ferrets, & he was smitten.  They were mean & odorous & not pets at
all, but he says he could see their sense of humor & could just tell they
were cool.  He and his older friend used to go out hunting rabbits with
them & some dogs; they'd carry the ferrets in a burlap sack.  In G's
memory, the old man doesn't seem to have kept them very long; he probably
took them back to the auction a few months later & traded them for
something else.
 
But they stuck in George's mind, & he always said he'd get one for a pet
sometime, & about 25 years later, which is 20 years ago, he did.  He got
his First Ferret, Frieda.
 
Sharin's story: About 20 years ago, I got a job where my boss was a
somewhat eccentric guy with a somewhat eccentric pet - which i heard about,
but never saw.  Then one day, in the middle of winter, I showed up for a
staff meeting, took off my big Sorel boots & had a seat, & someone said,
George brought his ferret!  Where?  I asked, and looked around... My first
sight of a ferret was a little head peering out of my boot.
 
The challenge: Anyone else want to tell your stories of your first ferret
sighting?  i bet some of you have some good ones!  It might be fun to share
them.
 
---sharin
[Posted in FML issue 2919]