Androcles the Christmas Lion
Androcles is my muse.
Perhaps that needs a little explaining.
One year for my birthday, my wife and stepdaughter wanted to give me something very personal and very special…and we were very broke. What they did was buy me a trip to a Build-A-Bear store. For those of you who haven’t seen one, they are small shops in American malls. They have dozens and dozens of different pre-formed toy animals. You can select the animal, how much stuffing you want packed in them, can slip a few mementos inside (which they did), and choose from a wide selection of outfits and accessories.
I picked a lion, mostly because he was just too cute for words and partly because he was smiling despite looking lonely among all of the teddy bears.
I write in my bathrobe a lot during col
