I See Monkeys

Because they're everywhere

Thank you so much for being here, friend.

Please consider pressing LIKE ❤️ at the end, if you enjoy this post!

Like many of you, my head has been threatening to explode lately with the ongoing state of the world - and let’s be real, this has been going on for YEARS now. Not only have we endured a full-on Pandemic but now we’re treated to an omnipresent trickle of Book of Revelations style-news, coupled with the niggling reminder (especially if you are of a certain age) that our lives are both random and finite.

(Full disclosure: This will not be a depressing post! Stay with me …)

I simply don’t want any of my lovely readers to ever find me oblivious or not being impacted by the state of the world right now. Believe me, if anything, I am an over thinker, strategizing and fretting at 3 am as though my opinions will be sought out by chiefs of state first thing in the morning.

I also routinely forget everything that I’ve ever learned from meditation.

For me, it’s often tricky to even remember to breathe as friends and/or family struggle with health issues or just try to get through all the unwelcome challenges that life spews forth. I read somewhere lately that if you live long enough, everything is sad.

What the hell.

I believe that it’s therefore vital to have a bit of a re-set. A bit of a frivolous respite. To try and laugh. After all, once all the practical-basic things have been done, such as sending call-to-action emails to government officials, recycling /composting, truly appreciating our own lot and consistently trying to be both kind and useful to others - what else can be done?

Which is why today, I am choosing to write about monkeys.

I only knew my father for fifteen years and for much of that time, he was despondent and often detached. (A longer story for another time, perhaps). He had an epic short fuse which frightened me as a child and although he was always around, physically, at home, he somehow remained unapproachable and was certainly not up for a heartfelt chat as many of the dads portrayed in 1960s American sitcoms. (I loved Fred McMurray as a child!) That said, he openly adored my mother. I once surprised them dancing together in the early morning light, curtains still drawn and Nat King Cole crooning away in the background, as two split grapefruits shining with pale pink juice waited patiently in shallow bowls.

I found this very impressive.

They both came from poor working class backgrounds but my Dad especially had an innate appreciation for cool, quirky finds and was capable of fixing anything if necessary. The ‘Monkey Table’ pictured here ( with a few different monkey faces all around the circumference) was discovered in the dank back corner of an antique store and cost next to nothing. My dad quickly surmised that it had been constructed at least in part from a barrel. My mum was already excitedly visualizing where it could go. They walked it home carrying it between them.

After they passed away, I asked my brothers if I could be the one to have that table because it always reminds me of the extraordinary romance that they shared.

Who amongst us does not have an issue with the Wizard of Oz Flying Monkeys? But what, particularly, made them so sinister? Was it that creepy “Bell Hop” outfit? The way they frisked back and forth? For me, it was that terrible moment when they took Toto away (how could they!?) and also that unforgettable scene at the window when an entire squadron of them blackened the sky …

Seen here, looking considerably less terrifying now, this OG Flying Monkey looks as though he’s wearing a (‘Flying Monkey’) Hallowe’en costume, poorly made by his mum.

There was a series of ads in the Seventies featuring PG-Tips tea and they were both hilarious and charming. I think there was also some kind of spin-off show that resulted from their success. Of course, although highly intelligent and capable of empathy, chimps can also be very unpredictable and apparently prone to violent behaviour. Interestingly, they are also extremely closely connected to humans sharing 98.8% of the same DNA.

And now, let’s just back up and re-read that previous sentence ...

A childhood friend of mine always had a leaning stack of comics in her room and we’d thumb through them together on her bed, always inevitably turning to the back pages where sought after items like de-coder rings, stink powder and Dick Tracy watches were all available for purchase. I yearned desperately for a set of ‘Sea Monkeys’ as seen here. I imagined having these fellows living a happy independent life in the splendour of my then-vacant fish bowl, a pink castle glowing in the background and their smiling faces pressed against the glass.

This was false advertising at its finest!

Careful readers will notice that wee skeletal shrimp just to the left? (And incidentally, why is the Sea-Dad wearing an underwater loin cloth?)

Anyway, that little shrimp - and not an actual ‘Sea Monkey,’ in fact - is all that you got in the mail. I myself was never allowed to buy these (perhaps with good reason although a reason was never supplied) but imagine the let down!

Read closely at the bottom too about the inclusion of an 'Aqua Leash!’

Jane Goodall is such an incredible woman, a hero of mine and so very wise. Her work and life needs no introduction from me but just in case you won’t click on this video, I beg you to zoom along to only 49 seconds in, which is the key part when the chimpanzee is released.

I have watched multiple times and each time, I am moved.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this sampler of my “monkey” business.

Amazing how far this one word has taken me and I didn’t even get to describe being traumatized after reading The Monkey’s Paw when I was a teenager or watching the cult “Planet of the Apes” movies late at night with my older brother or how I loved a Sock Monkey …

Thank you so much for being here, friend.

Please consider pressing LIKE ❤️ if you enjoyed this post to make my spirits soar. It’s very easy - and encourages others to read my work.

Comments are always especially welcome!