YourHub.com \\ Santa Clarita Valley \\ Blogs \\ Family & Community \\ Home & Family

Blog Entry 40 of 51 Something to think about...

An occasional visit to things that make you go "hmmm..." opinions on life in the world close up and far away. By trade, I'm a community reporter covering Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys for the Daily News, but can't help thinking outside the box sometimes...in the spirit of full disclosure, I'm involved with the Canyon Theatre Guild and Newhall Redevelopment, so history and the arts are pretty important to me. I'm open to discussions, suggestions, criticisms and compliments. I might not like what you say, but I'll defend your right to say it. Shall we?

Blog Url: http://valleynews.com/~SCVdramaqueen

Entries:

R.I.P. Tux

e-mail to a friend | print this | link to this

Contributed by: Carol Rock/valleynews on 7/20/2007

My home office is a little quieter now, wooden chairs stacked neatly in the closet, a hole where the first chair used to stand open to hold a multicolored cage. No need for the cage any more, because it's little furry inhabitant shuffled off this mortal coil yesterday while we were all at work.

Tux, a hamster belonging to my daughter and her fiance, had a shiny black coat and white stripe that ran along his tummy, widening at his neck as if to simulate a bow tie. I thought that's where his name came from, but my computer tech almost-a-son-in-law said that he was really named after Tux, the Linux penguin mascot for the popular operating system.

A hamster was the compromise when my husband wouldn't let them get a kitten; with four people in the house all working or going to school, there would be little time to entertain or watch over a growing cat and as every parent knows, the pets of the children often become the responsibility of the parents. We're on the threshold of empty nesting now, so a hamster seemed to make everybody happy.

The little guy came into our home about a year-and-a-half ago, growing into quite the plump little boarder. His travels around the habitat (that would change every time my daughter ventured into Petco) were the stuff of laughter; his attempts to squeeze his furry behind up the tube to his plastic wheel always stopped traffic. His nocturnal runs in said wheel is the reason he moved from her bedroom into my office. He kept them awake.

Since writers seem to be nocturnal as well, our relationship grew closer.

I got used to having a couple of beady little eyes watching me write (years of sitting close to an editor will do that) and would chat at him when I was in the office. Eventually, he would get to come out and wander over my keyboard or try to get into the myriad of junk I find essential to the creative process. He moved pretty fast, too.

Every cell phone in the house has a shot of him holding a banana crisp with his tiny "hands" before he chomped off chunks of the dried fruit to stuff in one cheek or the other. He quickly learned how to hide the goodies from his food bowl so one of us would notice it was empty and top off the green pellets with corn, seeds and fruit. It wasn't until I saw the cage being cleaned that I realized I'd been worked by a 3-inch-tall con man.

He even established a relationship with our two big dogs; Dharma and he would get nose-to-nose (her nose was as large at Tux's head, but curiousity prevailed) while Dusty the wolf-dog would run away if Tux came near the edge of the cage.

About two weeks ago, Tux's ebony coat started turning gray and he began to favor the bedding close to his water spout. He would curl up in a ball, a few morsels of food tucked away nearby and sleep for extended periods of time. I would stop writing every now and then and stare intently to make sure he was still breathing. When I picked him up, he seemed colder than usual, prompting a move of the air conditioning vent, but to no avail.

We started cuddling him to warm him up; he would raise his head, lick our hands or move slowly into the crook of an elbow or under one of the kids' chins. We all noticed he had stopped eating and that there was really nothing to clean up after.

Before work yesterday, I stopped by the cage and watched his back rise and fall. It seemed like the effort was taking its toll, but I wasn't ready to say goodby. He twitched slightly at my touch, then responded with a slight wiggle of his black whiskers. As I held him, he looked at me briefly before resting his head near my thumb. I knew it would be our last cuddle.

Later that day, my daughter went into the office to check on Tux and her cry of "mommy" sounded as plaintive as it had when she was just a toddler. I dropped everything and ran, even though I knew what she'd found.

Tux's departure touched the hearts of all of us, but I saw two young people do a little growing last night as they bid their pet farewell. Someday soon they will be answering their own children's pleas for puppies, kitties and other heart-stealers.

Tux's last gift was letting my husband and I know that they're ready.

< Previous: 'Coffee and companionsh...' | Next: 'Karma comes back with ...' >

[Report this as objectionable content.]

SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above blog

Current Rating

Based on 1 user ratings.

Talk Back : submit comments to the blog

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

Thank you! Your comment has been updated.

Showing 1 of 1 comments

Submitted By: Carolyn Levine

posted on 7/20/2007 @ 2:21:29 PM

(Not Rated)

ok thanks, I guess that was pay back for this morning eh...I wish all pet rodents lived longer than a few breif years....they are the best and are always remembered fondly.

[Report as objectionable]

Showing 1 of 1 comments

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Carol Rock

Woodland Hills

Carol Rock has posted 51 blog entries and 3 comments since joining on 8/8/2006. Carol Rock's average blog rating is 4.93.

view profile » view other postings from Carol Rock »

BLOG ENTRY RSS FEEDS

All blog entries

All blog entries in Santa Clarita Valley

All blog entries by Carol Rock

Loading Ad