Countdown to Caplin Day: 6

The first Caplin Day

Melanie’s Post:

The first Caplin Day was July 10, 2011, six months after Caplin died. By that time I had already adopted little Garibaldi Rous who was, by then, about a year and a half old. To celebrate I tried to feed him blueberries, one of Caplin’s very favorite foods, but he refused to eat them. Instead they all fell to the bottom of the pool. So the first Caplin Day was a bit of a flop.

Remember, eating blueberries is one of the accepted ways to celebrate Caplin Day! Spinach is also a possibility because Caplin ate spinach as a treat. The Popeye of capybaras!

Caplin Day 2012

The second Caplin Day went better than the first. We celebrated with popsicles in the pool. Turns out Gari liked a nice fruit popsicle on a hot summer day. Popsicles are, of course, the number one food for celebrating Caplin Day.

Caplin Day 2013

Garibaldi got chickens for his third birthday, March 11th. Red Chicken decided to join in on Caplin Day by helping to consume Gari’s holiday popsicle. She actually helped Gari eat a lot of different foods just about every day. It’s always hot here in July so Caplin Day is celebrated by swimming, if nothing else. Only chickens don’t swim so Red Chicken had to stand on the lip of the pool

Caplin Day 2014

Caplin Day 2014 was sad. I had my brain hemorrhage on Oct. 16, 2013 and lost half of my vision, among other issues. The bright side, or so I thought, was that I would have a lot of time to spend with Gari.

Gari had been having trouble with his teeth for over a year by that point, but the prognosis had recently taken a positive turn. With regular trimming by the vets up at Texas A&M, his issues could be kept under control.

Only that’s not the way things turned out. On February 16th, just short of his fourth birthday, Garibaldi died due to an infection caused by the tooth that had caused him so much trouble. That was a terrible, terrible day. I was still recovering from brain surgery and struggling with my vision loss and now I was left alone with no Garibaldi Rous to help me through it.

But Caplin Day cannot go uncelebrated. I ended up having popsicles with two friends from high school, who were now, like me, as old as dirt. The popsicles that year and every year since are dedicated to both Caplin and Gari.

That was the year without a capybara. A dark year.

Caplin Day 2015

Mudskipper Rous was born on February 7th, 2015 and came to live with me on the 14th. By Caplin Day she was a good sized six month old capybara. She got a homemade yogurt popsicle to celebrate the memory of both Caplin and Gari.

Almost Caplin Day 2016

I can’t believe I didn’t take any photos on Caplin Day but it looks to be true. Either that or I lost them. I was struggling with some issues at home at that time and still going through a lot with my brain issues. This is a photo taken on July 12. Skipper and the tortoises are sharing a pumpkin. Caplin and Gari inever ate pumpkin, it never occured to me to try it with them. Turns out, Skipper wasn’t excited about it, but it was a great treat for the tortoises.

Caplin Day 2017

Mudskipper has always had some issues with water and swimming. She would never get in the above ground pool that both Caplin and Gari loved so much. That meant that instead of swimming, she had to eat her Caplin Day popsicle in her wading pool. Still cute and totally Skipper. This year we should be able to celebrate in her new in-ground pool. Darned spoiled capybara!

We have now come to the conclusion of our historical summary of Caplin Day. I hope y’all have enjoyed it and are planning to celebrate this year. Leave a comment letting me know how you plan to celebrate. Make sure to take photos! I’ll have a little contest – with prizes! – for the best Caplin Day photo.