And how do we say thanks for that?

Once upon a time there was a little boy who was beloved by all. Ladies everywhere found him to be the cutest, most mannerly, and well-intentioned young man. He had smiles to share; he had stories to entertain; and he had a curiosity about life that was contagious. Because this little boy was generous with his love, those around him were constantly challenged to find the best means of repaying his affection. There was a lot of competition.


Well, this one time, a famous dentist thought she would trump all other gifts and offer the special little boy a living present . . . a science experiment of sorts. It seems that the famous dentist was confronted by a huge, hairy beast with many legs and a real desire to create webs. When she saw it, the first and only thing she could imagine doing was capturing this creature in a tea jar so that s/he could serve as constant entertainment for a very special little boy.



The famous dentist traveled many miles to bring the hairy creature to the little boy's dad. He graciously accepted the present. The boy's mommy was much less gracious. The little boy was ecstatic with the living creature that came to rest in a pink tea jar on the kitchen counter for several days. The mommy, seeing his excitement, played along even as she was startled every single time she walked into the kitchen to confront the beast.



After (too) many days of eating worms and being the center of attention at the little boy's house, he got to take this beast to school for Show and Tell. Clearly, he was the envy of all the children (and the other Mommy's expressed their lack of envy with large laughter and sentiments of "Glad it wasn't me.")


After a long journey where loads of patience was exercised, the hairy beast was released back into the wild at the Rillito. This, too, was an adventure. The little boy's dad tried desperately to encourage the tarantula out of the pink tea jar, but the hairy beast was frightened (and, perhaps, suffering brain damage from slight oxygen deprivation and lack of an appropriate food source). To entice the beast, the daddy tipped the jar and it accidentally rolled down the large hill into the Rillito. The beast turned over and over and over, dizzy no doubt, and it finally came to rest at the bottom of the Rillito, still in the pink tea jar. The little boy's dad climbed down the hill to rescue the famous dentist's tea jar. He was forced to dump the tarantula into its native habitat since the beast was eager to go back home with the little boy who showed him some affection and attention.