Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
6:47 p.m. - 2003-10-02


At Jason's on Wednesday, we were teasing Jellie by having Jason name all the different "critters" he has eaten in his life, beginning with rattlesnake and on to deer, elk, and bear. Jellie said "You ate bear??!!", so this got Jason started on his Juatzit story which I love to hear. He told how Evert shot the bear many moons ago on a hunting trip and always wanted to have it made into a rug. Here Joel and I broke in to tell him that Mimi had brought the rug up one summer and how it got moldy, leading to my aforementioned bear claw joke. Jason said that in those days, you could send away for a skull to put in the hide (taxidermy) but they opted for a plastic one, and somehow it just didn't fit right, giving the the head a different, non-bearish sort of look. Evert got the wrong kind of eyes, too, some kind of bobcat or antelope, so the eyes were golden and evil looking. Here Jane said "Wouldn't the eyes go rotten and smell bad?" but Joel told her they were glass eyes (I found this humorous). Then, since this was obviously not going to look like a bear, Evert stuck some antlers on either side of the head. The result looked very good, not fake at all, Jason says. Chas was so taken with it that he took it down to the local hardware store, and the owner put it in the window with a sign that said "Rare Mexican Juatzit". The funny thing about this was that several people claimed to have seen live ones in their travels, not realizing it was a joke. I wish they had taken a picture. They must have fixed the bear up later, because the rug we got did indeed look like a bear.

Jellie asked him what snake tasted like and we all waited to hear him say that it tasted like chicken, but no, he said it tasted like snake. He says it is like frog legs - they are good, but they have a taste all their own.

Joel finally decided on his birthday dinner, bowing to in-home pressure I think, so it will be tri tips, baked potato bar, salad, and a splendid dessert I will help make. I have a baking sheet that makes little cakes the exact shape of those funny spongey yellow shortcakes they sell in the supermarket, so I have been asked to make little brownie cakes which will be topped with a scoop of ice cream, followed by assorted toppings of the chocolate variety (Joel wants Chocolate Whipped Cream too, but Jane thinks that is too much chocolate, so we will see who wins). I also will make about 4 dozen deviled eggs, I mean I will boil 4 dozen eggs, so that makes 8 dozen deviled eggs, minus the ones we eat and/or break.

Auntie M is coming down for the birthday so I am looking forward to that. But the best thing is that I am on vacation next week, and plan to rest up, exercise, and goof off.