SUCH A SWEET LITTLE THING...? MAYBE. MAYBE NOT. READ ON!

GENEROUS MAHALS PAY ME A "PITY VISIT" WHILE RUNNING FREE

hey readers, do you see this? Mahals out on Runabout while I languish placidly in my cage? why am I not on Runabout,
you ask. You do ask, right? Well, because mom is now all "oh, I don't want any fighting, the Mahals have never fought and no teaching them how, Yum-Yum..."

she's so self-righteous and WRONG! JUST BECAUSE I GOT IN THAT ONE (NOTE FROM EDITOR: FIRST & POSSIBLY LAST) TIME, GNASHED MY TEETH, CHATTERED LOUD WARNINGS, BRISTLED MY FUR, GOT THAT PUNKY LITTLE MOHAWK OF MINE TO STAND UP ON END AS IF A BATTLE WAS IMMINENT...AND LEPT RIGHTEOUSLY UPON THE PRETTY ONE -

then mom goes and spoils the whole thing because she has never heard either Mahal chatter even one tooth or behave aggressively and we learn bad (according to mom) as well as good manners from one another, so now I am banished from Runabout with the Mahals "until you learn to behave, Yum-Yum!"

inspired speech, mom: you and all your Peace "blah, blah, blah."

"I am the rightful heir to 'Lord of the Herd' and the Mahals need to know it!"

(muted WHISPERS FROM EDITOR...)

Dear Readers, hi. It's YumYum. How are you? We are fine. Raj and Taj are visiting me during their Runabout.
See
Dick and Jane walk. See Dick and Jane run. See YumYum CENSORED! See YumYum's mohawk bristle in Self-righteouS INDIGNATION!

We are having such a nice time and wish you were here. Tea and crumpets, anyone?

Soon, one of the Mahals may be offered a "guest columnist" opportunity because, ApparentlY, mom thinks I do not always reflect the Sanctuary-Spirit of loving inclusivity and respect when welcoming new members to our herd. WHAT A CROCK OF ---

(shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, squeal and sound of more shuffling, teeth chattering and whining) uh-oh...

*!*

Dear Readers,
My name is Raj Mahal and I do not know what to say. Can we have dinner now?
*/*

(YumYum leaping upon laptop keyboard, squealing:)
*/ "He doesn't even know how to write -TO THE HELM, TO THE HELM!"*/

*
YumYum has NOT LEFT THE BUILDING!

G'night from the Newsroom: VOTE FOR ME! VOTE FOR ME NOW! RIGHTFUL HEIR TO...
(OOPSY...) ta-ta, readers!
YumYum

PANDA PIG AND MOM, 2009

"I hold today the same opinion as I held then. To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being."
- Mahatma Gandhi

MOM AND ME

Dear Readers,

When I first arrived at PandaPigSantuary I was EAGER to start my whole, new Happy Life with mom and PandaPig!

SEE?!

We didn't adopt Bear the Beaver Pig until Christmas Eve, 2009, so I was Herd Pig #2. I always aspired to be
Herd Pig #1, AlphaPig, second to none!

Now I am. Be careful what you wish for. Top Gun is a lonely place, actually.

Now: RARE CONFESSION & DON'T ANYBODY MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF IT OR I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN:
I miss being the baby and cared for, now that my ElderHerdBrothers are gone. PandaPig raised me and shared his
hidey-hole with me and taught me the Guinea Pig Way. With patience I didn't always deserve. Ok, maybe I never
deserved it, but that's just the kind of pig Panda was. HE was patient, HE nurtured me, and mom got some great
photo ops. I now realize what a lucky punk I was.

Now that fate has laid the mantle of good penmanship upon my Mohawk-crested shoulders, the next two posts are from
me and the Mahals to mom and all of our dear readers and friends.

LIKE I SAID, DON'T MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF ME GETTING MUSHY OR I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN.

until i do it again.

Dear Readers, we dedicate mom's birthday to all of you and the acutely heartfelt memory of PandaPig and Bear.

yum-yum Yummy! out.

IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN!

DEAR READERS,

Remember the picture of mom's bff, Susan, and her BOWL OF LATTE? This is where that java took them!
(Not to mention Susan's home-made sandwiches at the half-way point!) We have faith:

IT COULD HAPPEND AGAIN! Mom in happier times: Because java is HappyJuiceDelight for burly mountain girls
and Hwy. 542E is the Stairway to Heaven! And hiking with caffeinated girlfriends TOTALLY ROCKS!

For now: anybody gotta spare wheelchair with jet rockets? We are accepting donations.  Seriously, thanks.

YumYum out!

THANK YOU, FRIENDS!

Dear Readers,

Yes, we've posted this photo before but if you have a moment of joy you've got to make the most of it, what say you?

Today is mom's birthday. She is having an intensely difficult time and so we want to begin this Birthday Post from her favorite

place, Artist Point at Mount Baker and, with the spirit of mom loving it there, want to thank you from this Heavenly Mountain

of Reflection and Peace

for every single gesture of love, encouragement, caring, tenderness, home-made meal, home-made birthday gift, phone message, email, ecard, thought, prayer, and heartfelt support you are sending our way Today.

Many of you began before today, somehow feeling you couldn't begin soon enough, which is true. This spring Birthday month and Birth Day, which mom shares with John Muir, has been ragged around the edges and jagged on the inside. But, as our Beloved Sant Rajinder Singh Ji is fond of saying, "LOVE BEAUTIFIES EVERYTHING." And your love beautifies mom's birthday today more than the most breath-taking moments she has ever enjoyed in the mountains! Yeah, you know who you are!

This year, mom's Climb is Within: And, elegantly, each of you appear, stationed faithfully at every outpost at which she stumbles. It has been an extraordinarily intense month of pain and redemption, grief and -we have faith - Renewal! Renewal...redemption...rebirth, each of you a midwife holding us through the painful contractions that precede Good Stuff Emerging. I'm YumYum. This writing stuff  is new to me, remember?

So, from me and the Mahals on behalf of mom, we celebrate her birthday beautified by your love and offer gracious thanks to each and every one!

AND WHAT DO WE WANT FOR OUR BIRTHDAY? THIS HERE:
To take the best photos from our blog, create a book, cards, a calendar, and as many different forms of
media as possible celebrating the lives and loves of guinea pigs to raise funds and donations to create a special "Small Animal Sanctuary" at the new Whatcom Humane Society future building. We little ones are not forgotten, but the small touches that make our lives so much lovelier rarely can be afforded by animal shelters overwhelmed with larger animals. We can fall through the cracks, through no fault of the shelter or volunteers, simply through lack of funding. Animal rescue is service and we honor all who offer theirs.

In loving memory of PandaPig and Bear, and when grief allows us to revisit our favorite moments together
in their lives, we're all going to pitch in, using PandaPig's blog and to help raise funds for what we hope can become an extension of PandaPigSanctuary at the Whatcom Human Society. That's OUR Birthday Wish!

THANK YOU ALL. MOM MAY NOT HAVE THE ENERGY TO SAY IT NOW, SO PLEASE KNOW HOW MUCH WE LOVE YOU, DEAR READERS, PRECIOUS FRIENDS.

YumYum out.

TAJ MAHAL "HUGGING" RAJ IN AN UNHOLY WAY

OK, ONCE AND FOR ALL, READERS: This is not really once and for all, just this morning. But, get it straight before we change their names up on you tomorrow.

Taj Mahal is the brown, swirly pig "hugging" his bff, Raj Mahal. That is Raj on the BOTTOM (i.e. receiving end) of Taj's "affection." TAJ ON TOP. RAJ ON BOTTOM. GOT IT? MEET THE MAHALS!

This "hugging" (I know from experience) is gonna land both of them back with Dr. Berry getting the "snip-snip" so they better straighten up and fly right if they want to keep their manhood. My money is on the "snip-snip" and it's not that bad, I just had it and I'm fine. (EDITOR: YUM-YUM WAS ALLOWED ON RUNABOUT WITH THE MAHALS LAST NIGHT, WE WILL SHARE MORE LATER, AND HAS NOT CHANGED. MOHAWK FUR TRUMPED SNIP-SNIP: HE "JUMPED" RAJ WITH TEETH CHATTERING AND FIERCE AGGRESSION. sigh.)

TAJ MAHAL ON TOP.
RAJ MAHAL ON BOTTOM.
ME GONNA JUMP 'EM BOTH AND CHEW THEIR FUR OFF AND -
(NOTE FROM EDITOR: "YUUUUUUM-YUUUUUUUUUUUUM!")

my new friends, how i love them both.

Edwin coming tomorrow for mom's birthday and she's acting like, "Sure, Edwin, you can name them" but since he does not have a computer and wouldn't read the blog anyway...what will their names be by Thursday? Knowing mom...the same! But we will let you know their "Official Registered" names according to Edwin. Then we will immediately forget and when Edwin visits again we will have to remember or politely ask him. People are SO WIERD!

yum-yum gonna jump those mahals and --- (YELLING FROM EDITOR!)
YUM-YUM OUT.

IN CASE YOU ARE AS CONFUSED ABOUT THEIR NAMES AS MOM: MEET RAJ MAHAL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUSAN!

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO SUSAN AND MOM AFTER THEY SHARE A FEW BOWLS OF LATTES ON HIGHWAY 542E

THEY GO PLACES WHERE THERE IS SNOW IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY...WAY UP HIGH!

AND TODAY IS SUSAN'S FIRST BIRTHDAY AS A GRANDMOTHER! APRIL 19. MAYBE, WE AREN'T SURE.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM'S BFF! WHENEVER.

WE GOT OUR FRIEND LINDA'S BIRTHDAY WRONG, TOO. AND UNTIL EDWIN SAID HE WAS COMING UP WEDNESDAY FOR MOM'S BIRTHDAY, SHE FORGOT HERS ENTIRELY!

FURTHERMORE...

IF YOU THINK YOU ARE CONFUSED ABOUT THE NAMES OF THE NEW GUINEA PIGS, SUSAN, WE ARE, TOO:

EDWIN WANTS TO NAME THEM AFTER MOM ALREADY NAMED THEM AND SHE CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT SHE NAMED THEM SO, WELL, JOIN MOM'S "CONFUSION CLUB" AND HOW MANY CANDLES WILL YA BE BLOWING OUT, EXACTLY?

YUM-YUM, RAJ AND TAJ MAHAL OR RAJA AND MAHAL OR WHOZIT AND WHATZIT
ARE DEFINITELY O.U.T.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

MEET SOME OF THE "MOVERS"

hey, y'all, well, since we introduced you to John and he's going to help us move, we thought we would introduce you to some of the other volunteer movers who are taking us to our new home in the city. you've all met Susan, mom's bff, but maybe the other pics of her were not as flattering as this one: and...just so's you know, that's not a bowl of soup causing her to take her temperature with a spoon, that's a double shot of latte swirling around in her bowl!

mom and susan's favorite place is in a little town on hwy 542 (everybody here in bellingham who skis and snowboards and snowshoes and does anything on Mt. Baker - which is everybody in town - has a little sticker on their Subaru, including mom, that says either "Go East, Highway 542, Mt. Baker" or something close to it.)

nobody outside our little hamlet knows what that means, exactly, but it is a badge that the driver is a burly mountain girl or boy and local!

so, when city Susan comes up from Seattle to be burly mountain girl Susan, they stop to fuel up with - not food, not trail mix, not power-bars - but lattes!! BOWLS OF THEM! then off go the burly mountain girls and susan returns to the city with a renewed sense of purpose. which she describes to mom in anywhere from 2 - 7 voicemails the next day because she works as a volunteer tutor co-ordinator at Washington Middle School in Seattle where anything can and does go wrong (i mean, HAPPEN!) and she is the fixer-upper! today she and her family are at a Mariner's game and we hope the Mariners win because she loves them with Holiness! Go M's!

i'm just a little guinea pig and don't feel like capitalizing words but it's really because i have a Mohawk running down my back from my top-notch to my rump and Mohawkish pigs are not obliged to use capital letters.

we love susan. she just became a grandmother for the first time in January and the new baby is our designated moving van driver. if he can keep it in his diapers!

YY OUT!

JOHN DISCOVERS MY "GRIEF PLACE" AND FEEDS ME THERE, KINDLY

mom and i are allowing ourselves to grieve naturally and each one of us has our own ways. i like to sit in the darkest place i can find in my cage and be quiet there. nobody disturbs me, not even the Mahals. but, today, John came over and offered me some wheatgrass after noting that i was sad. he did not ask me to come out, he simply placed the treat between the bars of my cage after he noticed me watching him treat the Mahals. i didn't make a peep. just watched (top photo) with my nose, which is how we watch Best, through our sense of smell. i felt so lonely. but i didn't make a peep. too sad.

then John, noticing my wee little nose and whiskers, made a humble love offering. i accepted. and he continued. now we are friends. guinea pigs are highly sensitive creatures. in fact, mom sneezed a few times and both Mahals scurried into their Pigloo so fast you'd think a tiger roared!

mom thinks they were well-taken care of, but not handled by their people. they cannot be petted in their cage while eating:
YET! i know from personal experience they will become accustomed to being held and cuddled and brushed and played with and have their fur scratched affectionately as much as i do, because they hear how much i purr every time mom does that
to me.

John is very gentle and sensitive to us, and made offerings respectfully so as not to interrupt my grief with merriment (unlike certain Mahal Party Animals we know) and i like John very much.

thank you, John, for noticing me in my grief-hiding place and not ignoring me...yet, not intruding, either. you are a real
good guy!

YumYum Out!

SOCIALIZATION: FOOD = LOVE!

OUR FRIEND JOHN took to the Mahals as quickly as the Mahals took to John! Not that the wheatgrass sped things up.
(NOTE FROM EDITOR: WHEATGRASS SPED THINGS UP.) It's been a good day.

...I even "popcorned" for the first time since we began grieving.

The Mahals brought in a Zydeco Band last night...MAHALS, WHO ARE YOU?!
DEY Mahals den danced on dey's little piggie feet,
sang wid dey's little piggie voices,
and Popcorned de piggie night away to dey BIG SWAMP Zydeco Beat!

where mom find 'dem Mahals, eh? dem's some noisy beasts, dem Mahals! what? yeah!

Mom said she and Edwin took Zydeco dance lessons once but Edwin danced on her and sprained her
ankle and their first lesson turned out to be their last. Probably good thing, yeah?

ALL NIGHT LONG! o.k. they maybe cheered me up because I tapped my little piggie toes, too. If you listen to Zydeco
music and don't tap your little piggie toes you need your little piggie head examined! They cheer me up those crazy
Mahals. A little. A little at a time.

And John cheered THEM up! So, we all cheered up today. The first real pinprick of light through our dark cloud of grief.

Thank you, God. We needed hope!

Today, John also took mom to see our new city place (everything but the inside of the apartment itself, because somebody still living there until April 30) and mom said we were going to be very, very happy because it is SUFFUSED WITH SUNLIGHT! and lots of nice neighbors and a view of the city and the Bay.

Yes, a view is the most important thing to a 6-inch tall rodent: always the view! Good one, mom. Funny!

Thank you, John, for cheering us ALL up today!  And volunteering to help us move. Come back soon!

love,
YumYum, Raj and Taj Mahal