"Once Upon a Monk"

 

Hello... my name is Monk and this is my life story.

It all started when I was sitting on a hospital gift shop shelf.

That was 37 years ago.

Back then my adopted Dad (Don) purchased me and placed me in the

hospital bed right next to my adopted Mom (Nancy).

I've been keeping her company since that 7 day hospital stay!!!

Then things just kept getting better and better.

I loved going for a ride and sitting on the dash

But I would often hit the deck when Dad would suddenly

brake or accelerate.

So Mom solved that problem by putting a visor around my

waist and YIPPEE, I could ride for hours and enjoy the view.

I loved traveling by car and seeing all the wonderful places

we visited throughout the United States.  And I rode in

a colorful tote bag as we moved into and out of various

hotel and motel rooms.

Hotel and motel rooms weren't bad and I always

liked it when we went out by the pool to enjoy

our adult beverages after a long day's drive!!!

I also enjoyed my morning coffee outside before

we hit the road for the next adventure.

When I wasn't being carefully watched, I'd find

some pretty place to sit and smell the flowers.

Sometimes I'd hop around and find a colorful place

to sit, where I could eat, 

and eat,

and eat!!!  If it wasn't ice cream

it was trying to decide which pie to eat.  This

probably added to my not so trim waistline.

Who ever heard of a Monk with a waistline anyway.

But I decided I'd try so I went

Geocaching with Dad to get some exercise while

he searched.for the 1st cache placed in the Sacramento 

area.  Granite Beek was placed in 2001 near Folsom Lake.

I got tired of walking around so I patiently waited for him

in a field of Monkey Flowers, which were

non-edible... boo hoo!

Since most Monks like trees, I thought I'd try it out

and see if I could catch a breeze with a couple of my friends.

You're right, this isn't a tree, but it's made of wood

and it was pretty fun to sit on the distaff of Mom's spinning 

wheel.   In case you don't know what a distaff is, it is

a stick or spindle onto which wool or flax is wound 

in preparation for spinning.

One day recently, I was watching Mom do her knitting,

and when she set her glasses down to leave the room,

I thought I try them out.  They made everything very blurry,

but that wasn't the worst problem, I got a spanking!!!

Mom wears her glasses when she's working on her

quilting and 

even when she uses her sewing machine,

and even when we have wine.  Yes it's o.k. for me

to drink, after all I am 37 years old!!!

Best of all I like hanging out in the trees, even

Fountain Palms, but you have to be careful

where you sit because they have stickers.

Have you ever ridden a lady bug,

or sat beside a rainbow colored frog with

bulging eyeballs, or

given one a phenuddy?  Don't bother looking up that

word, it's not in the dictionary.  I learned it from Mama Monk

who learned it from her Dad... it is the act of rubbing noses together.

Hey maybe the Eskimos did it!!!

As you may know, most monkeys have tails except for a couple

of species the Tarsier and Lorises don't have tails

That's the end of my

story and I'm sticking to it!!!