New friends

There are numerous reasons why I decided to get my own apartment rather than looking for a roommate. A lot of it has to do with asserting, in my mind anyway, my independence. In other words, at my age I think I'm a little too old to be sharing the rent with someone who isn't also sharing my bed. And since I'm single, that means living alone. Which I'm cool with. Frankly I can do without the hassle of getting my life tangled up with someone else with whom I'm not especially close.

All the same, it does get lonely sometimes. Coming home, nothing greeting me but the sound of the heater and a blinking answering machine (95% of the time it's telemarketers)- this is the flipside of the bachelor lifestyle. And while I have no problem with independence, it's nice to have some other life in the house.

So I went out this week and bought a guinea pig.

This wasn't exactly a rash decision. I had several guinea pigs in my youth and had enjoyed caring for them. They're easy to hold, fun to play with, and friendly. And I love the sounds they make- for my money, the cheerful squeak of a guinea pig is one of nature's most comforting sounds. I didn't even mind cleaning up after them- they're pretty low-maintenance compared to a lot of other animals. If I was going to have a pet, a guinea pig would be the obvious choice for me.

What they don't tell prospective guinea pig owners is that the other stuff- cage, bedding, food, etc.- costs a great deal more than the pig itself. Which I guess makes sense, but it came as a bit of a shock as I worked my way around the pet store. Not that I let this stop me- I wanted to get off on the right foot as a born-again guinea pig owner, and if a little sticker shock was what it took to point me in the right direction, so be it.

After some deliberation, I decided to name her Muriel. A tad unconventional for a guinea pig, perhaps, but then I've never really cared for cutesy animal names. I think that I would find it harder to really call an animal by his or her name were it something like Mittens or Muffin or what have you. Plus I've always liked the name Muriel, but it's not something I would really seriously consider naming a child since it doesn't mesh very well with my last name. But what really inspired the name was a personal assessment of favorite red-headed movie characters. Muriel is white with reddish-orange patches, so she's enough of a redhead for me. I briefly toyed with Victoria, after Moira Shearer's character in THE RED SHOES, but after thinking about TWO ENGLISH GIRLS I decided that Muriel was a much better name for my new friend. I ran the name past a few folks at work, and they agreed that it sounded good, so Muriel it is.

So how's it going so far? Pretty well. She's pretty young- maybe a couple of months old- and little bigger than a large hamster. Because of this, she scares fairly easily. I didn't take her out of the cage to hold her until a day or so after I had brought her home because I wanted to let her get used to her new surroundings first. She's pretty ravenous when it comes to lettuce, but she rarely even touches her pellet food, so I should work on being more judicious about when I give her her favorite treat. As one of my coworkers joked, if you were given the choice, wouldn't you eat dessert first?

I admit that I was a tad disappointed that she didn't squeak at all in the first few days since I brought her home, but she has started vocalizing more since I began taking her out of the cage and holding her more extensively. I like to think that the greater amount of contact has made her more comfortable in my presence. I hope she's not squeaking out of fear- the she doesn't fidget or try to escape when I'm holding her is a good sign, in my opinion. We'll see whether I can put her more at ease in the days to come.

Given (a) my lack of digital camera and (b) my difficulties in uploading pictures to my blog, I don't have any pics of Muriel to post for you. But when I do I'll try to post them here.