Thursday, May 20, 2010

Man Versus Nature, Part II

(due to the reverse-chronological nature of blogs, I’m putting part II up before part I. Also, I’ve been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately, so I now like to lay traps to confuse museums 12,000 years from now. Bear with me.)

This is a representation of Roger, a yellow-bellied marmot:

Cute, isn’t he?

This, on the other hand, is the world-famous Fairmont Empress Hotel:


It would seem that the former has taken up residence inside the latter, causing much amusement or consternation, depending on how you view the situation.

We enjoy the Empress, which turned 100 years old last year and is only a few blocks from our home. We love the lights, their elaborate xmas decorations, their lavish tea rooms, their annual Xmas Tree charity event, and many other aspects of this truly Victorian hotel.

However, on this occasion we think we’re going to side with the marmot. We think it adds a bit of character to the place, and hope someone can tame it, feed it and keep it as a mascot. The thought of Roger the Marmot joining tourists for High Tea never fails to put a smile on our face.
If, on the other hand, that proves impossible, I hope they will humanely relocate Roger to Beacon Hill Park, which he’d probably like better anyway. Either way, our rallying cry is the same:


(wait for it)


WELEASE WOGER!


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You do like your cute rodents this morning, eh?

Bunnies are one thing, but Roger must go - and not just to Beacon Hill. He has been "voted off the island", as it were. He has been banished back to his homeland on the Mainland to protect the indigenous (and threatened) species of Marmot from any bugs, pests, and - do Marmots get ringworm? - infections that Roger may be carrying.

Welcome back from Seattle? Sad day, Salt Spring coffee is now going to become Vancouver City coffee....

chas_m said...

Ah, a pity, but in my heart I know you are right. Besides, even if you were going to introduce marmots to the island -- you need a female one as well!

Salt Spring Coffee changing its name? Pity. I guess non-locals didn't like the idea of "salt" in their coffee. I don't think the new name will do well. I would have suggested something like "Woodstock Island" or "Commune-ist Coffee" :)

Anonymous said...

Ooops, didn't make myself clear. Salt Spring Coffee is keeping the name, its just that now it will be from Vancouver. All operations are moving to the Big Smoke in the next month or so....

I'm sure I will think of something ironically sarcastic (sarcastically ironic?) to write soon as I sign off....

Happy May 2-4....

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