ANIMAL TALES FROM MY CHILDHOOD
Installment #1
When I was a kid, bugs and other squirmy little critters fascinated me. I had a beautiful (to me) blue bicycle with orange tires and a little leather satchel that attached to the back of the seat. I kept this satchel full of moist dirt and earthworms.
I’d ride my little friends around the neighborhood, then I suppose I eventually emptied them gratefully out and back to earth.
I was 8 years old in 1958 when kids were still playing outside without constant adult supervision. I figure I had a mile or so circumference to wander from my home. That mile included an aging apple grove reputedly planted by Johnny Appleseed, a wooded area with a creek teaming with fossils, salamanders, and crawdads and the elementary school which I attended. The school was next door to my house and I remember watching them build it. Two years ago I returned to visit my old Ohio home and the school had been converted to a home for Alzheimer patients.
But throughout my childhood I spent summers rollerskating on the school’s blacktop, climbing monkey bars and picking tiny little cone-shaped shells from the sand under the slide. (A rare treasure for children in landlocked Greenhills, Ohio) In just a few short years, there was not one shell to be found there.
Our family pet was a Dalmatian named El Cid. Cid had a humorous habit of grinning when he was embarrassed, and confusedly chasing his tail in circles when he passed gas. He was primarily my sister Holly’s responsibility, but I often tagged along on their outdoor adventures and remember fondly those quiet snowy winter walks.
Persian Cat portrait by Kathryn Hutton 1963
At age 12 my mother told me I could have my own cat. A deal was struck with a Persian breeder. My mother, a professional artist, agreed to draw one of her cats and I would receive my very own fluffy white kitten. I had never been so excited! But…I never did get that kitten and the portrait of the cat ended up on some since forgotten Senator’s office wall in Washington, D.C. Here the tale takes a major and surprising detour that I’ll tell you about in the next installment but meanwhile you might be interested in some thoughts about a unique American animal, the nine banded armadillo.
