Snorlax

Earlier this week, my NaBloPoMo partner in crime, Lori, posted about a gift she had been given by her best friend. It was random and unexpected and made very little sense and it was perfect. She asked us, her readers, if we had ever been given a gift like that and I was able to tell her about mine (a purple skull bracelet from Nemeria that just showed up one day in my mailbox for no reason other than she saw it and thought of me ~ it was random and unexpected and made very little sense and it was perfect.) But it also got me thinking about other presents I've been given over the years. The stone from Robbin Island from my mother. My new wedding band from Lithus. The "princess" art from Crow. Some really great stuff. My favorite presents, though, the two that don't even feel like they ever were presents because they have always been mine, are Bear and Snorlax.

In case you don't know, Snorlax is a pokemon. He's a giant pokemon who sleeps a lot and snores. One of his powers is to roll over onto people while he is still asleep (at least, that's my version of it). When My Heart was growing up, our lives were all about pokemon. So, I decided Snorlax was my favorite. A pokemon who can't be bothered to wake up to do battle? What's not to love? Well! Let me tell you ~ when you are three and five and eight and your beloved, slightly crazy, super-fun Aunt Mame loves a pokemon, that's a big deal. I got a lot of Snorlax...es? ice? ii? Most were drawings or stickers. So, I put a Snorlax sticker in my jeep. It became a bit of a talisman to me. But jeeps are windy, and one day I noticed it had blown out. I replaced it with another sticker, but my windshield broke and I forgot to grab the sticker before the repair guys did their thing. One by one, my Snorlax stickers got lost. The rest of my collection went the way children's gifts often go. In other words, some I threw out, some didn't make a move, some just...I don't know. Until I lost the very last Snorlax sticker and started to panic. By this time, I'd had a Snorlax in my jeep for probably eight years. Possibly ten. I had to have a Snorlax. From My Heart. In my car. And I remembered a hard, rubber one that I had always kept in my office. Maybe I still had that one... Which I did. So, the last of the Snorlax got super glued to the dash of the jeep.

He rode there until I sold the jeep, many years later. I informed Lithus that, whenever we bought another car, Snorlax would once again, be attached to the dash. It was non-negotiable. Until then, he hung out in my suitcase, acting as a road talisman from there. Over the past several years, he has taken on a life of his own, though. He is propped up on our made bed when we're at home. He gets packed and unpacked. He goes on every trip. This last travel day, we thought we had lost a bag. My first thought wasn't about clothes or equipment but was "I think Snorlax was in there." We are looking at buying another car. Perhaps Snorlax will hang out on the dash, but the days of super glue are over. He's gotta be more mobile than that any more.

I had originally planned to write about Bear as well, but this post is getting long. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to read about Bear. Until then, Snorlax...

Hanging out in Utah

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.