A stitch in time

This is Bunky. Bunky is one of my most treasured stuffed animals, a relic of a time (late 70s or early 80s) when wearing a stuffed lizard on one's shoulder was the done thing in Midwest fandom. It was right after firelizards had been introduced in the Anne McCaffrey books.

Bunky here was one of the first lizards made by a dealer who went on to be very popular, but I feel the later, plumper ones are too self-consciously cute and lack Bunky's personality. His name came from some commercial that included the line "is that what's troubling you, Bunky?" because of his mournful expression.

I brought Bunky along in my pocket when I interviewed at Jim Henson Studios in 1983. Jim Henson himself set him up on his desk, and for a moment in those hands he came alive.

I found Bunky just now on the mantelpiece, where he had fallen behind some books-to-be-read. He was very dusty and, upon inspection, moth-eaten; in some spots the split peas were threatening to come out. I found some purple thread and stitched up the holes. There were a lot of them, and the fabric around them wasn't in very good shape either, and the repairs look a bit unsightly. But they're better than the holes.

Bunky goes on the shelf with the other stuffed animals now. He's one object that is not going to be decluttered away, ever.