I would like to introduce you to Coffee Head. As you can see, it's a bear. A really big stuffed toy bear, to be exact.
The dump gods were certainly smiling on columnist Walt Humphries when he found Coffee Head the stuffed bear, laying in a heap with a rather forlorn and woebegone look.
I have a yuletide tradition, that in the fall around freeze up time, I start looking in the salvage area of the dump for something I can add to my outdoor winter display. It might be someone’s old decoration, an antique or something that would look interesting or even another stuffed critter. One can never have too many stuffed critters because they do have a limited life span when used in an outdoor display.
One day, I heard at the gate, that a woman had recently come in with a giant stuffed bear that she had spilled coffee on. I raced to the salvage area. The dump gods were certainly smiling on me that day because they hadn’t ploughed yet. There was Coffee Head, laying in a heap, with a rather forlorn and woebegone look. Wouldn’t you be forlorn and woebegone, if you future looked like you were going to be buried alive at the dump, along with all the other garbage and trash?
Think of this, from the poor bears perspective. You had come into this world, been created or made to bring some love, hope and cheer to all that saw you. You went to a store, were bought and taken to someone’s home. You certainly had some good times and then through no fault of you own, a human spills coffee on your head. Suddenly, without any warning, you are thrown into the back of a pick-up truck, driven to the dump and discarded in a heap. And there you wait for the dreaded dozer to come along. So sad, too bad another stuffed toy gets discarded and cruelly buried.
Then just as you resign yourself to your fate, some old guy with a beard picks you up and dusts you off. He places you in the back of his pickup, so that you can see the town and possibly wave to the pedestrians as you drive by.
He takes you to your new, forever home. He positions you in a place of honor, on top of a small core box cabin, where you can talk to Santa, Rudolf and other stuffed toys that are part of the display. You are bathed in the multi coloured glow of winter lights. Every day you can see and hear the kids as they walk to and from school. You get to see the motorists drive by and wave. You get your photo taken by strangers, visitors and tourists alike and you hear many words of praise on what a fine and handsome stuffed bear you are.
Once again, you are fulfilling your purpose. You are bringing joy, love, hope and good cheer to all. The cold certainly doesn’t bother you. Birds come by to feed on the roof of your cabin and your only real worry is a local squirrel that occasionally is seen eyeing your stuffing, but such is life and coffee head has a lot of stuffing to share.
Now wouldn’t it be nice, if all the stuffed animals and toys that get thrown into the dump, could be salvaged and saved? That they would be used, played with and enjoyed again. Wouldn’t it be nice, if all the books thrown into the dump could be put into a library, so that they could be read, again and again? Wouldn’t it be nice if all the clothes could be saved and worn? Wouldn’t it be nice, if all the appliances, kitchen utensils, pots and pans could be saved and used? Wouldn’t it be nice if all the building materials, hardware, nails and screws along with the tools could be salvaged and used to build housing for people? Just think of the amount of carbon that would save and the value that it would add to our economy.
Now there is a yuletide wish worth wishing for. It's not that there is a shortage of stuff, it just needs to be saved from the dump and redistributed. That is certainly Coffee Heads wish.