A Family Treehouse

So, recall last week when I said that I made a little ditty for Pops? Well, I found the one last piece that I needed and completed it - and got him to stand still for 5 minutes so that I could take his picture with his new "friend."

Maybe you don't know, Pops is a veterinarian. He is what is called an "industry veterinarian" these days. That is sort of a mouthful of words to basically say that he no longer waits at a vet clinic to take care of Fluffy and Brutus when they are sick or to do annual checkups with vaccinations. Please go see your local vet for those things! Pops works for a pharmaceutical company and visits lots of veterinary clinics in Oregon. One of his regular tasks is giving in clinic seminars over lunch to educate the doctors and staff about something that they either could use a "refresher" on OR about something they just plain didn't know.

A while back, Pops devised a seminar to discuss the life cycle of the flea. (ICK!) Then he got busy thinking up a way to talk about the life cycle of the tick... he wrote a poem. It is quite funny and when he gave his whole seminar on fleas and ticks to ME, I was simultaneously amused and grossed out. But, when he recited his poem about ticks, he had NO props (unlike the flea part). So, I told him that he needed a tick hat. He laughed and said, how was he going to get a tick hat... I did not let him down. I made the tick hat that evening - but, had to wait on the eyes a day or so. Here is what I came up with...

This is at the beginning of the poem when the tick has only six legs. Then as the tick grows and becomes an adult, it gets two more legs. So, I had to come up with a way to allow two more legs to appear.

Velcro Works!!!

Then all eight legs are out and the adult tick is there! It is a little goofy looking, but that is the point - humor in the face of some of this gross stuff!! He is always game to make a fool of himself... just check out his own googly eyes!!