Stanley Goes "Out of the Box" and is Thankful for Amazon!

 January 24, 2021

Me: Good Morning Stanley. How are you doing?

Stanley: I’m doing great! I see you’ve been busy and have new guests.

Me: I do. They are beautiful gifts from a dear friend. Wonderful reminders of the Southwest. Particularly my time in New Mexico.

Stanley: Wow! You got to live in New Mexico?

Me: I did. For almost 5 years. It was amazing.

Stanley: I’m envious. I would love to visit the Southwest. I’d love to see all the mountains and experience all the wide openness. It must feel so BIG! Of course, it might not be a healthy environment for a frog, would it?

Me: hmmm. No, probably not. It’s pretty dry out there. Especially compared to here where we have such high humidity.

Stanley: Yes. My own personal sauna here! In a perfect world, we have a little rain every day. Just enough to keep the streams running and everything a bit moist and dewy. Keeps my skin so firm and shiny. I don’t care for the cold much though. I had to order this sweat suit for the winter to stay warm.

Me: I’m glad you did. I thought frogs usually hibernated during the winter?

Stanley: We do. But this year, I didn’t want to miss anything, so I decided to come “out of my box” <finger quotes> Get it? Out of the box? Lol

Me: <laughing> Yes. I do. So how’s this been for you? Are you enjoying the winter here “out of your box”? <finger quotes>

Stanley: Yes, I am. It’s amazing how life continues to go on while we are all hibernating. I’m not sure I’ll ever hibernate again. So many cool things happening all the time. I used to miss all of this. You don’t hibernate, do you?

Me: <laughing> Well, funny you should ask. As you know, since the advent of COVID-19, many of us have lived in sort of a hibernation state, I guess. It’s been a big change. But no, under normal circumstances, humans do not hibernate. Aren’t there healing things that happen for you when you hibernate though? It might not be a good idea for you to cancel your future hibernation plans just yet.

Stanley: Hmmm. I’ll think about it, but for me, my body goes into hibernation to stay alive. Frogs hibernate to conserve our energy and get through the cold temperatures. But now, I have warm coats and sweat suits I can wear to stay warm. I don’t have to worry about freezing to death. I’m very thankful to Amazon for that. <grins> And, I look good too! Don’t you think?

Me: lol Well, yes, you do and it is nice to see all of your new outfits. We’ve had a huge increase in our package deliveries since you learned how to get on Amazon and order stuff.

Stanley: I know. It’s so cool huh? I’m pretty proud of myself too! Buying things online gives me a real sense of freedom.

Me: I do get that! However, how do you pay for all this stuff? Do you have an account with Amazon?

Stanley: Yes. And I have a job and get a real paycheck now. So I have money to spend when I want.

Me: Oh! That’s a surprise to hear. You are so resourceful Stanley. Yay for you! What kind of job do you have?

Stanley: I’m a writer. I’m writing short stories about our talks on the porch. You lead such a funny life. All my critter friends are really enjoying learning more about humans. You are so hilarious! It’s a fun gig!

Me: Oh!