Snakes

Everything Changes

by

Matthew T. Lipson

4.3 : Snakes

Everyone has their spirit animal.  For some people the animal is obvious from the moment of conception, while others may never find theirs.  Many ancient cultures placed the most sacred animals in the heavens, as seen in the patterns of the night sky.  We see this represented in various Zodiac pantheons.  These are only the most popular, and, at times, the most primal.  We still see these beliefs in small carvings and pictures placed around people's homes.  This can be seen as primitive idolatry, which, I think, is a blindness to the fact that we have a connection to animals on a level only few can recognize.  My youngest has always been drawn to snakes.  Whether they be rendered in rubber, fabric, or drawn on a piece of paper.  Every trip to the now defunct Rain Forest Cafe, she added another plush snake to the collection.  So when visiting a zoo, a natural history museum with carved fetishes of snakes -- both new and from antiquity, I cannot help but think of her and smile.

Lovies

Everything Changes

by

Matthew T. Lipson

3.2 : Lovies

My former mother-in-law called them Lovies.  That one toy your child can't survive without.  My eldest's was a Winnie the Pooh plush.  It kept her company on walks, on the changing table, when potty training, and, of course, when asleep.  She would trade out for other stuffed animals and eventually be replaced with a Simba plush after fully potty trained.  Yet, he has still stuck around.  Whether stuffed in a toy chest, shoved in a closet or under the bed, he hangs around reminding us of all the changes and growth she and I have gone through.  He has stood ... actually, sat ... witness to the strength of love connecting the two of us.  I can look at him and remember how she clutched him, sucked on his ear.  Yes, that wasn't specific to Pooh.  She'll remind me of that, of course.  I wonder, sometimes, if she keeps him because I won't let him go or because she won't.  After all, I am a nostalgic person.  Once I was the Winnie the Pooh Uncle.  Always giving Pooh related items to my nieces and nephews.  In the end I was a Winnie the Pooh Father.