My Day as Capybassador

I deal with the chickens

It started out a day like any other day, and that explains why I can use the above photo in this post. It wasn’t taken today but it might as well have been. I am always having to deal with those chickens. I know they were my birthday present and so, technically, they belong to me, but I have to say that they do not know that. Unless them belonging to me means that all of my food belongs to them. But I digress.

In the car

The day stopped being so typical when Sheldon came over. I was suspicious right away because he didn’t have the puppies, Juju and Tali, with him. Why would he come here without the puppies? Then my worst fears were confirmed when Melly appeared with my new purple harness. The harness means we are going someplace, even if it’s only for a walk. Someplace I probably won’t like.

You might recall that I have been known to have a harnessing problem. I might have bitten Melly on TV when she was trying to harness me once. Well, I am pretty much over that thanks in large part to Barbara Heidenreich of GoodBirdInc.com. Barbara trained Melly on the right way to put my harness on. Anyway, I like my new purple mesh harness so I’m not sure I would have put up a fuss even without Melly’s training.

Where are we?

I suppose anyone can see that Melly should clean out her car more. Of course, she blames it on me!

Well, we ended up at an elementary school in North Austin. It seemed like a nice school and a good opportunity for me to practice my Capybassador (in training) skills. I liked it right away when a bunch of kids lined up across the little driveway started calling out that there was a capybara! They knew what I am! Ms. Jill Clark, who is the teacher who invited us (and you can see her behind the car in the above photo), said they are fifth graders and fifth graders are always very smart, as everyone knows. (I added that last part about them being smart but I’m sure Ms. Clark would have said that if she had thought of it.)

Capybassadoring

I was at the school to visit with the 1st graders though…and there were a lot of them! One thing about 1st graders is that they are good at asking questions but maybe not as good at listening to the answers. Melly had to yell quite a bit just to be heard. But all in all, it went well. It only sprinkled a little bit. I stayed in my purple harness, which got some compliments. I let every kid pet me. I did not bite anyone, but I did step on a couple. I only climbed over the bench once…or maybe twice, certainly no more than three times.

Being Capybassador (in training), is an important job and not an easy one, but I think most of these kids will remember what a capybara is and know a little something about rodents.

Time to eat!

I don’t know how long we spent teaching those kids about capybaras, but by the end of it, I was exhausted and famished! I ate a whole head of endive and a bunch of apple on the drive home. This might be partly because Sheldon took the scenic route home, which is longer. I didn’t even see any scenes because I was busy eating.

Home at last

Home at last! And I don’t think the car looks much dirtier than when we left. Maybe a few scraps of lettuce here and there. Or a piece of apple crushed into the seat. Or a blueberry stain. Nothing anyone would notice.

Firmly on the ground

I hear that some pet capybaras have ramps to get in and out of their cars. Melly says I don’t need a ramp and it would take up too much room. Still, it is a bit awkward. Maybe we should get a bigger car. Or get a ramp that pulls out from underneath.

The sleep of the exhausted

When I got back in the yard, Melly gave me a great big bowl of lettuce and a piece of corn on the cob. I ate the corn but I was too tired to eat the lettuce. I am planning on sleeping until next week.

Melly had a little capy, a little capy, a little capy,
Melly had a little capy name of Garibaldi Rous.
She made him go to school one day, school one day, school one day,
She made him go to school one day to and everybody knows,
A capy in a school is fun, so much fun, so much fun,
A capy in a school is fun but don’t let him step on toes!