Saturday, April 17, 2010

Monkeys And Duck Feathers

While we were still living in New Mexico Babysitting was one of the many tasks Cindy took on everyday, one of the children she watched was a little girl named Emily, we were actually at the hospital when she was born as her parents were good friends of ours and Cindy started watching Emmy when she was three weeks old, funny how much like Cindy Emmy turned out to be and how many people in our town actually thought she was our child, the things we went through with this child I think we actually thought she was ours also.

Once when Cindy's parents were in town visiting us from California, we decided to show them around the area a bit, they had never been to Ft.Sumner, NM to see Billy the Kids grave and Museum. So we decided to spend a day with them in Ft. Sumner. Emily was all excited about making a trip with Nanu & Papa (Nanu is what all the kids call Cindy’s Mom) somewhere during the ride Emily started talking about going to see the Monkeys, Cindy's Mom was enjoying the excitement coming from Emmy as she told stories to her and all the while listening to Emmy talk about the Monkeys (that only she saw evidently). It was a fun trip listening to this wide-eyed little girl telling Nanu about all the Monkeys, and Nanu pretending to see them and carrying on a long conversation while we drove down the road.

We pull in to Ft. Sumner and stop at the Museum first, We make our donation and spend a long time going through every exhibit, and making the necessary stop at the gift shop, before going out back to the graveyard where Billy the Kid is buried. This is an old time cemetery with wooden crosses, faded marble headstones, and a lot of graves with no markers at all. On the backside in the middle is Billy the Kids grave, here he is buried between two of his companions Tom O’Folliard and Charlie Bowdre. This grave is completely covered with Iron bars to prevent vandalism and or theft (The headstone has been stolen a couple of times but that’s another story).

We walk up to view these graves inside what looks like a big cage, And the drama begins, Nanu is carrying little wide eyed Emily and they are looking at the graves, When all of a sudden she throws her little head back, places her hand over her heart, and at the top of her lungs yells "Oh My God!! The Monkeys Are Gone!!!" Cindy’s Mom nearly dropped Emmy right there. I was laughing, Emmy was still yelling "Look The Monkeys Are Gone!!” Cindy is trying to help her Mom hold on to Emmy, and the whole crowd is looking at Emmy trying to figure out what is going on. We take Emily back to the car to make our exit while she is yelling at everyone as we pass, The Monkeys Are Gone The Monkeys Are Gone!!!

Needless to say we had to plan a trip to the Zoo the first stop was at the Monkey cage, Emily was satisfied with the fact that the Monkeys had returned, and we went on through till we ran into the Duck, Emily was about 3 yrs old at this time, and being the shy kid she is (ha ha), Was afraid of getting close to the cages to look at the animals, I was calmly trying to get her to take a closer look, and not having much luck.

Next thing I know I turn to see Emily standing face to face with a duck in the middle of the path, The duck opens his bill and makes a noise I can’t describe, Emily takes a step backwards wipes the front of her shirt, then leans forward and proceeds to give a PHHHBBBBTTT!! Right into the ducks face. I yelled for Emily, She yells "He spit on me!!” and the chase was on! OK picture this, Duck running up the path, followed closely by Emily, who is followed closely by Cindy, I couldn’t help much due to laughing so hard, Seems as if everyone else at the Zoo were standing with one hand over their mouth and pointing with the other.

The duck did win the race, Thanks to Cindy being able to catch Emily just before she got a grip on the tail feathers. The story from Emily after that was how this duck had spit on her new shirt. I'm glad we went that day, We had a really good time, laughed a lot, and Emily is not afraid of the animals now, The biggest thing I am glad of is. We are still welcome at the Zoo!

18 comments:

  1. What a GREAT story, Jimmy!

    "She yells "He spit on me!!” and the chase was on! OK picture this, Duck running up the path, followed closely by Emily, who is followed closely by Cindy..."

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...I can SO picture that happening!!!

    When I lived in Florida, I would sometimes sit by a lake that contained a plethora of wild geese. OMG, talk about aggressive! They would walk right up to me and PECK at my lawn chair. I would also watch, as they waddled into the street trying to PECK at passing cars - I kid you not!

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

    Have a great weekend, buddy!

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  2. Hey Ron,

    Yes Sir that was so funny, I'm glad it wasn't a goose you are right about them being so much more aggressive I have seen them in action like you described.

    A good weekend to you too my Friend.

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  3. Kids are such great entertainment!

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  4. Reminds me the time of when The Daughter had just started walking, and we were on a road trip, Coincidentally, in New Mexico. For some reason she was always chased by roosters, and to this day she doesn't like them.

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  5. What a great story! A classic memory...
    thanks!

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  6. You said that right Ms A,

    If you are not laughing at the antics of the kids then you are not paying attention Ha Ha, you gotta love kids.

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  7. Hey Joe,

    Yes it is funny what will trigger a fear with kids, I can see why she would not like them to this day if they were chasing her then.

    Good to see you my Friend.

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  8. Thank You Pat,

    Kids do create wonderful memories with the little adventures they get themselves into :^)

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  9. You had me laughing soooo hard! I can so identify with this. I am a daycare provider, also to our Godchildren, so we spend time with them off hours as well. Kids sure do come up with the "darndest" things!

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  10. Hey SuziCate,

    We probably could do an entire blog of just experiences we have had with the kids, the things they come up with sure keep us on our toes at times.

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  11. I remember once taking my daughter when she was about five to the park where they have a pond full of ducks. One day the ducks started going crazy...I am not really sure why. Katie started getting scared because they were running all around her. She kept yelling "damn it ducks...damn it ducks!!!" I think she heard that expression "damn it" one too many times at our house. My bad on me and Tim!!
    Hope you are having a fantastic weekend friend!!!!

    Susie

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  12. Oh my gosh Jimmy! I just spit coffee on my monitor, laughing at this!! And that is the highest compliment I can give. I can just picture poor Emily wailing about the Monkeys being gone. And then the indignation about the Duck spitting on her. Priceless!!

    ♥Spot

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  13. No fear Emily is here! That was hilarious!!!!

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  14. Hey Susie,

    We get reminded when we least expect it of the terms our little ones are picking up, damn it is one I have also heard come back on myself Ha Ha

    your experience just reminded me of my oldest son when a group of ducks surrounded him one grabbed his little finger and shook it until he dropped the cracker he was carrying, he said a few choice words I didn't know he had picked up until then, and then it turned into a game to see if they would do it again.

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  15. We still laugh about the monkeys being gone Spot, I sure hope I don't owe you a monitor cleaner now Ha Ha

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  16. Hey Trisha,

    Emmy sure has no fear now :^) and I am sure the duck doesn't either.

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  17. That's a great story. I'm actually petrified of anything that flies. I had a couple of attacks from them so I try to stay away!

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  18. Hey Cindy,

    Yes I can see where a couple of attacks would make you afraid, they have a way of making themselves look badder than they actually are.

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