Spring Will Arrive and Soon We Will Be Trees

 

Don't have to make no sense!

{Pic by 1SkatrPie}

LOVE IS IN THE AIR...

 

Dear Friends, MODS, Country Men and Women, Ferrets, and Seattle Seahawks,

Since the recent passing of our beloved Erica last week, the herd has been
subdued and grieving, looking for her...not understanding...

The worst part is that when they did begin to understand, Coconut's grief
was so intense she simply stopped eating and drinking in an attempt to join
her best friend...

MacNutPie squealed bloody murder.

YumYum cried.

Raj and Taj Mahal just ran around tumping over their Pigloo,
wondering why.

But Coconut was at risk, for guinea pigs are known to die of grief
and not eating and drinking speeds that process up to just a few days...

In desperation, after a playful Runabout together, we did an experiment
because we had also noticed Coconut and MacNutPie consoling one another
through the bars of their cages...so we moved MacNut from his bachelor
pad into Coconut's cage...With trepidation.

So far, the two appear to be not only good room-mates, herd-mates, and
playmates, but we sense love in the air...

A spring wedding is already being planned and invitations will be sent
to all via fledging owlets, HORKS optional.

SQUEEE! Our First Wedding with Cake4all: a luscious Celery red-and-yellow
pepperPIE cake with carrot/kale frosting and beets a la wheatgrass!
(HORKS NOT OPTIONAL for two-legged attendees.)

It does not lessen our grief but love just saved two lives
and brightened our day!

Yours Always,
YumYum
P.S. I grieve by viciously attacking other guinea pigs.
So it doesn't look like I will be getting married, but
mom snuggles me a lot. And we watch Jackie Chan movies
together on the laptop. WOOT-WOOT!

Grief Therapy

 

 

 

 

^^^ PRESS ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE DETAILS! ^^^


Original Drawings by HoneyAntDreaming
of Light and Erica in Heaven

The "EricOwl"

 

^^^Press Image to Enlarge^^^

This mixed media collage inspired by a photo
of our friend Eric from his most recent book.

Erica was named after him. He is more of a
"hamster man" but we didn't care.

Today we are really, really missing our little
Lioness. Yesterday we were so tired. Today it
hurts again. Art therapy...what this is.

by Honeyantdreaming of Erica...
Grief day today.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATION FROM PANAMA

 

Dear Friends,

We are grieving yet also wish to celebrate Erica's beautiful
life with ART! Ever so often, we become completely immersed
in art from a native, indigenous culture and it reflects in
our own drawings.

We love Australian Aboriginal Paintings, both the dot paintings
and newer interpretations of their Dreamtime Mysticism.

We also adore Inuit Art from Cape Dorset, the longest running
printing studio in Canada.

We liked something else, too, but we forgot...

And now we are discovering the healing power of Molas.
Funny how mom discovered one at our local Thrift Shop
the day after finding this image online and there,
high up on their wall, was an authentic, hand-sewn mola
professionally framed selling for a handful of beans!

They were closed that day but mom kept peering at it through
their locked door...long story short, it is now hanging on
OUR wall and we are loving it!

Oh, African Art! That's what we forgot to mention.
And African Music. Mom's friendship with some Maasai warriors
who worked at Woodland Park Zoo inspired exploration into
African Art, and the animals were right there!

Mom enjoys art as therapy. Thinking of who she is drawing for
and the people who developed the style that inspires gives us
a feeling of connectedness with people and cultures we will never
visit in person. Yet, the connection is visceral, palpable, and
we feel in the presence of elders in their villages joining us
as we draw.

And find it healing our broken hearts with color and the stunning
remembrance that Life is Beautiful and the Circle of Love can never
be broken...like silken thread, so delicate, yet tenaciously strong
in its delicacy.

We wish you all good night. Thank you for so many loving emails and
condolenscences...you remind us that friendship heals, too!

Love Is In The Air...Sort Of..Maybe Not So Much? For More News, We Turn To--

 

So, Mr. FancyPants ain't afraid of Middle Eastern Despots,
but reveals a secret terror of CAVIES? (Must report him!)

 

"HEY, YOU PRETTY LITTLE MAN...COME TO COCONUT."

 

"RICHARD, GO AFTER SOMETHING YOUR OWN SIZE, LIKE A HAMSTER!
SHE BELONGS TO ME!"

Taj Mahal

 

 

Our Brave Lioness...

 

Tonight the herd is quiet and YumYum cried. Coconut is looking for her best friend
and mom grief-stricken. Erica died today on her own
from a large, fast-growing malignant tumor. She communicated her wishes to us
not to be kept alive for surgery tomorrow. We called the vet and communicated
her wishes to them, as well. The vet was gone for the day but the staff called
him back in. He had hoped to get her strong enough to possibly remove the tumor.
Today we had a sudden windstorm so strong it nearly blew out our windows and
knocked power out in the city for most of the day. We felt her ask us to let
her go, as she was suffering and in great pain.

Mom could not drive up to Lynden because of the storm and her health. It was our
desire to have her on our lap, comforting her in a warm, loving embrace. She let
us know it was not necessary. So Mom made arrangements.
And the vet was called in. All the while we were crying, saying goodbye to her
and telling her how much we love her. She was thankful that we understood and
would not force her to continue living in pain, much less the trauma of an
unwanted surgery...that is not how she wanted to die. And that is not how we
wanted her to die.

Therefore...mom called the Clinic, the Clinic called the vet back in, a tech
gave her the meds and fluids on schedule, the vet took a look then went into his
office to prepare. When he came back out, she was gone. Mom explained what had
happened and how she had asked for our mercy to let her go. How she waited
and held on until we could. Then how quickly she was gone once she had made
sure that we were O.K.

Soulful. Thoughtful, and kind to us in dying as in living: she would hold in her pee if
she was on your lap to keep from soiling you, then squirm so hard to hold it
in you would realize how badly she needed to go. And as soon as she was back
in her cage, she would gratefully pee. She was considerate of us even in death
in her incomprehensible pain and suffering, alone in her cage at the vet hospital.
Mom told the vet why she had changed up and asked him to come back today instead
of having surgery tomorrow and the vet said his own wife was like that with their
animals. He knows how devastated we are when we lose one of our herd.

Guinea pigs are extremely sensitive, spiritual, emotional souls: They can die
from grief and they can die from pain.
Her last night here she slept by mom's bed in her own little sleeping bag
so mom could pet her and check on her throughout the night, knowing this might be
their last night together.


Erica was the gentlest of the herd, quiet, sweet, and our humble Lioness!
Our grief feels bottomless tonight.

We adopted Erica and Coconut, our first females, after they were surrendered to the
nearby farm store, unwanted. For two weeks the people tried to get us to adopt them
but mom wasn't sure she had the strength to care for six. Customer after customer
walked by their cage, ignoring them. Coconut and Erica are not typical-looking guinea
pigs. No one found them attractive.

The people at the Farm Store begged mom to take them, saying no one else would.
So, we did. And we became a herd for the first time. A herd of six. We got girls and
we got happy. We played together on our owlie rug and chased, hid, and teased each other.
Kestra's daughter, Kezia, even gave Coconut her name after deep consideration.

But tonight, it's very quiet. We miss her so. Erica...we love you.

Gabriel & Stanley--Original Version

We hope you enjoy this as much as we do,
courtesy of our dear friend, Marifan!