Avenue K9

From grade school until now, I have accumulated several clusters of collections. I believe I owned nearly every My Little Pony, Care Bear and Cabbage Patch Kid offered in the 80s. I had quite a few Barbies, which I passed down to my younger sister who ended up cutting their hair and losing their clothes. That was a sad day. In high school, I started collecting Snowbabies, which are creamy porcelain, hand-painted toddlers who frolic in the snow. Thanks to my mom, the guru collector, I have enough Snowbabies to decorate an entire 4-foot tree. In college, I bought a hand-painted cow from the Cow Parade series, which is probably my favorite collection. I did not plan on owning a throng of cows. Family and friends noticed the one cow and soon enough I had the Cowabunga cow, the Moozaic cow and the Fine Wine Bovine cow. My girlfriend Jen even bought me a Cow Parade lamp. 

It looks like I’m on to another assemblage. Due to our new child Beary White, a West Highland White Terrier, I received a westie stapler, a westie magnet, a westie-welcome sign and a westie ornament for Christmas. (All items from my mom, thank you!) And I even pulled Mike in, buying him a westie calendar. I do not hoard; I know when these kinds of things get out of hand. I believe the Care Bears and My Little Ponies were sold in a garage sale long ago. But I like to always have a collection going. It’s heartwarming. If your friends and family contribute, you’ll always have a unique item they bought thinking of you, and not say, perhaps, a festive Christmas sweater or gift card. So as I begin this westie collection, I think I’ll reflect on my first and favorite purchase — a cuddly and sassy little pup who likes to eat my small collection of high heels.