Gizmo

The last month or so of my life have pretty much been a blur with all sorts of life experiences and stories happening along the way. But what I want to share is the story of Gizmo, our ferret who is going blind.

You see, we just moved from Iowa to Oregon and we noticed while driving west that when Gizmo wasn't in her usual living quarters she would fall off the occasional hotel bed, run into the leg of a chair or navigate a new location by tracing out the perimeter of the room.

In our new house she exhibited similar behaviour, running into a wall every now and then or playing with her sister and falling off the couch or being extra sensitive to loud sounds. The vet says she will eventually be completely blind.

I'm sad that she's losing her vision while also completely blown away by her refusal to be the victim in all of this. I've read stories of ferrets who are going blind and will no longer leave their cage and bite whoever tries to ge them out. Other ferrets will no longer play or explore and just shut down. But Gizmo is just as curious as she ever was, and she's even created a new system to map out her territory. We've noticed that she grabs a mouthful of food and leaves bits of it along the walls or at a corner or near where she likes to sleep, almost as if she's guiding herself by the scent of the food. Now, ferrets hiding food is not unusual, but the amount of food she hides and the locations are an entirely new behavior to her.

I'm blessed to have such a joyful bundle of energy in my life. She inspires me with her continuing curiousity for new things. We've been taking the ferrets for bike rides and the LOVE being in the silent, open air. Gizmo gives me hope that abundance is always there no matter what other forces might also be in motion. I'm grateful for your teaching.