Meet My Buddy - by Tim Hall
Like to introduce you to an old wooden buddy of mine...
Been with me since I was a late teen.
Found him amidst junkets in a basement of an old shop downtown as I recall. (I take that back, a junket is sweet custard-like food.) He was just in some junk.
Anyway, I could almost hear him say, “No, I can’t flies, but I can keep my eyes out for you... I can’t lend you a hand, but I can stand up for you”. He was looking up at me as if to say, “get me out of here”. So I did. Been with me since.
Named him “Heckle” after a character in a great show I watched back when I was short, called “Heckle and Jeckle”. (Heckle and Jeckle are postwar animated cartoon characters created by Paul Terry of Terrytunes animation. They are a pair of yellow-billed magpies; Their first appearance was 1946)
Heckle has no ears, no hands; don’t suppose he is ever audibly speaking, lest he does so when I’m sleeping. (Have had suspicion since the inception of “Toy Story”)
His mouth can open, but only if I squeeze the back of his head, as you might notice from the pic.
Hmm, that’d be a trick, maybe that could be duplicated in some humankind!?
He’s been faithful, been with me through thicks, thins & all the spins of life; has felt like kin at times.
He has held in his beak some profound things... favorite verse, quotes, and notes, always done what he’s told.
I like to think he can hold my thoughts...
He held one quote in his mouth for a good decade, until “someone” told me it didn’t sound very nice. So I took it out...
that is until they left.
“Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things”
Me and Heckle didn’t mind...
Heckle seemed to think “that someone” proved the point... & was pretty petty
He’s easy to care for... doesn’t eat or drink, doesn’t use the toilet or sink. I have, however, wondered if he might think...
I’ve always considered Heckle to be somehow wise....one day I was reading and realized why...
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. Proverbs 17:28
Perhaps I too should try that more often…
