Dad: Unedited XXIII

(Finally!  Dad tells a story about a monkey.  Enjoy! -- Tracy)

Derf Here!

Ten days 'til Christmas!  Where has the year gone?

A monkey story follows.  One of many!

Over the years as kids, we had a total of five monkeys as pets (not all were friendly).  We named all five Chee-Chee.  The year was late 1940's or early 1950's.  I was around 10 years old (give or take a couple years).  We were in possession of Chee-Chee number one.  Chee-Chee was a male Rhesus monkey (the breed related to the Rh factor in blood work).

It was a beautiful summer day so I thought I'd take ol' Chee-Chee for a walk on a leash.  He had a large cage/home/residence upstairs in Dad's store.  His home had a tree about 8-10 feet high in which to climb and several burlap bags which he would wrap himself in if the furnace wasn't adequately warming his place of residence.  His home had a window so he had a wonderful view of the world.  He was taken care of with all other amenities of comfort like sawdust and shavings (this made it easier to keep his home clean).

One fact of interest was that while there was a monkey in the store, there was never a sign of furry little gray pests.

Now back to the story.  Chee-Chee was on the leash and off I went up the sidewalk towards Lincoln Street.  About one-half block away, as I approached Lincoln Street, the leashed beast decided he would jump back on me.  He grabbed on to my leg and I thought he was about to bite me on the knee.  I wasn't about to let this happen, and in Chee-Chee's defense, he was, perhaps, just being friendly to me.

Self preservation was on my mind and I decided that my safest and best action would be to keep a distance between my knee and Chee-Chee.  I accomplished this by spinning around while Chee-Chee was hanging on for dear life at the end of the leash.  His eyes were wide open, he was holding on the leash so as not to get choked, and he was making a noise that sounded like "Ooooh, Ooooh, Ooooh."  All the while I was yelling, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy...!"  I finally made it back to the front of the store and was rescued by Dad.

I was not damaged in any way and Chee-Chee survived his ride on the horizontal Ferris wheel.  I will admit that we got along better in future walks with no more incidents.  I have a video of another time I had him on a leash with no consequences.

It was a sight to see, a 10-year-old kid twirling a monkey around (both yelling in their own language) while both beast and child were hanging on to opposite ends of a five-foot leash.  It all is laughable now, but at the time I was not too brave at all.

More monkey stories to follow.

Until next time;

Toodle Pip!  Derf!

P.S.  Josh's baseball team won again last Friday.  Another shutout!