And Now For Something Completely....Weird???

I have come across a much larger version of this opossum on my deck. It was dark out and I was letting the cat in. The cat, however, wouldn't budge and was staring at the far end of the deck. I turned to see what he was looking at, and there it was, a huge opossum staring back at me. It was creepy. He stared and stared and didn't move for awhile, and then s.l.o.w.l.y climbed the post to the arbor.

I learned that the opossum is the only marsupial in north America and that it has lots - maybe even fifty - teeth, very sharp teeth. Not something to tangle with.

So it was a surprise when I came across a vendor at Stitches South who was selling possum yarn from New Zealand. That stopped me dead in my tracks. I asked the vendor "You can shave a possum?"

She hesitated, and then said, "The yarn is recycled."

Huh? Recycled from what? Oh....

She could tell that I had figured out that recycled meant killed and quickly explained that opossums were introduced to New Zealand and that since they have no natural predators, they overrun the country. She said that they are very destructive to vegetation and therefore, people are allowed to kill them.

Oh. The yarn is blended with merino to make it soft and pliable, and did feel quite nice. But they shouldn't have displayed a photo of a mother possum with babies riding on her back. Just makes the whole thing feel wrong, somehow. Fifty sharp teeth or not.