A Dam Fine Pet

  Karen Holte 
  Originally uploaded by moesewco

Karen Holte has lived a storied life.  Actually, when Em and I sat down to talk over what we wanted to write about her, we were a bit stymied.  This is a woman who grew up on Isle Royale in Lake Superior-- getting to school by a school-boat, has knit every piece of clothing it is possible to knit, and (if the stories are all true) spent time in San Francisco sitting at the edge of coffee shops watching Jack Kerouac hold court.

But to me, one thing will forever ring true.  It wasn't something that she did, but it was something she told me many years ago.  Apparently, when she was growing up, a family friend had a pet beaver.  She said that he was a great pet, loyal and quiet and always game (in more ways than one).  Best of all, whenever it would start to rain, his damming instinct would kick in.  He would scuttle about the house gathering every piece of clothing he could find, and then stuff it under every door in the place.  He would effectively dam off the house, keeping his owner safe from the impending flood.

When Karen told me that story, I knew she was someone I wanted to get to know.  There's no way that a person who knew a person who had a pet beaver could be bad. (EM's note: and one who would tell the story as if it were the most normal thing in the world...)

I might even take a bullet for a person like that.  I doubt it will ever come to that, but you never know. (AM)