My, how the time flies. The seasons pass each other as if it were a race. It seems just as winter's started, it's over, and summer races past spring so fast that it blows the leaves off the trees into autumn. How I wish sometimes that they would slow down. It doesn't seem that it was over a year ago that a beautiful yellow-colored fuzzy named Purdy Girl came to stay with us at the Bridge. Purdy Girl was one of those fuzzies you just had to keep an eye on. She was so fully of mischief that you never knew what to expect with her. Wherever she was, she made that place her own, and all the fuzzies knew that if Purdy Girl was around they had better keep their tails where they could see them! She was a real prankster. One time, back when Purdy Girl was still in the Hoomin world, her mom thought she was lost. Her mom was frantic, looking everywhere for her, and finally got out the purple dinosaur squeaker toy to call for her. Mom was squeaking the dinosaur and bending down to look under the dresser. Purdy Girl, however, thought that her mom was playing hide and seek, and snuck around behind her and bit her on the butt! Tag, you're it! Everyone just laughed and laughed. While she was mostly just a fun-loving fuzzy, there were some things of Purdy Girl's that you just didn't want to mess around with. Purdy had her own private carrier in which her mom used to take her to the doctor back in the Hoomin world. No other fuzzy was allowed to use her carrier. Even at the doctor's, Purdy Girl would come out of her carrier, then close the door with her teeth just so no other fuzzies would crawl into it! It was no wonder that Purdy Girl was such a corker. Originally she was a daddy's girl to a man who had kept her for over three and a half years, but then the man had his girlfriend move in with him, and believe it or not, of all things - she did not like fuzzies! After all that time with the man, Purdy Girl had to leave! It was no wonder that she had an attitude like nobody's business. Luckily, it was right after that when Purdy Girl came to live with her mom. But even then, she didn't know what to think of hoomins, so she kept them at bay with her teeth! Purdy Girl's mom was a patient hoomin, however, and taught her not to bite by putting ferretone on one hand and holding her with the other. After a while, Purdy Girl got a real taste for ferretone and learned that she might be able to trust hoomins after all. She even learned how to give her mom kisses. Just the other day, I was passing by Purdy Girl's hidey-hole. Her hidey-hole happened to be near the top of a hill, and she was always playing pranks. One day, while none of the other fuzzies were looking, she coated the grass near the top of the hill with buckets of ferretone. Purdy Girl peeked her nose out of her hidey-hole and watched each fuzzy who passed by her hidey-hole slip down the hill, one by one! At first, Purdy Girl's prank ruffled the fur of the first few fuzzies who slipped down the hill, but pretty soon all the fuzzies realized that this was a great way to have fun. Fuzzies came from all over just to slide down the ferretone-covered hill like it was a Slip-n-Slide. Not only did all the fuzzies have the time of their lives, their fur shined like they were river otters! I had tea with Purdy Girl yesterday, to mark her first year at the Bridge. That's when she told me all about her mom, and how much she still missed her. We were sitting on a blanket outside of her hidey-hole as we had tea and cookies (Purdy Girl took just a spot of ferretone in her tea, wouldn't you know). As we talked, I noticed how beautifully her yellow fur reflected the sunshine. It was no wonder her mom thought of her as "her sunshine girl." Maybe her fur shined like that because of all the ferretone, or maybe it was because Purdy Girl was just one of those special fuzzies, one who had learned that even as cold as the Hoomin world can sometimes be, there were always rays of sunshine like her mom to be found. Whatever it was, being around Purdy Girl was always like basking in the sunshine. Having tea with Purdy Girl got me to thinking a bit on things. Our lives are just like the seasons, they pass so quickly. We all eventually pass from one world to another, like autumn passes into winter and winter passes into spring. And just as the warming of the spring takes the winter chill out of our bones, I am reminded that the warmth of the sunshine is never very far away. Just like Purdy Girl, all we have to do is learn to trust the changing of the seasons. Sandee [Posted in FML issue 5184]