8 August 2014: Introducing...Rainy Day Moose!

introducing...

rainy day moose!

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you've probably noticed a particular yellow-rain-coat-clad travel companion who pops up in some of my pictures. For those of you who don't follow me on Facebook, you'll find his mugshot to the right.

I figured he deserved a formal introduction, considering he's been with me now for longer than I can remember. I present to you: Rainy Day Moose.

Rainy Day Moose came into my life many years ago during a shopping trip to a Sacramento gift boutique on 24th and K Streets called Mixed Bag. Mixed Bag is just what it sounds like: a mishmash of gift items, some gimmicky, some seasonal, some edible, and mostly all kitschy (in the best way possible). Rainy Day Moose was part of a line of tiny toy stuffed bears in various garb, but here was "Rainy Day Moose," as he was identified on his tag—definitely not a bear, and in the cutest yellow slicker I'd ever seen.

Rainy Day Moose and yours truly.

If you look closely under his raincoat (though I'm sure he hates it when I do that—and those photos would most certainly be NSFW), he has the same body as those stuffed bears: bear paws, bear belly, even a tiny bear tail. But then there are those antlers and that moose schnoz (for those of you non-Yiddish speakers, that's a nose). Rainy Day Moose had to come home with me.

Through the years, Rainy Day Moose has held a very special spot in my car(s), in the little divot by the gear shift that mostly collects trash, but he doesn't mind. He's kind of my good luck charm—I like to think that he gets me particularly good parking spots, or helps ward off stupid drivers. (Couldn't we all use a charm like that?) He's also become somewhat of a tiny moose-lebrity to my close friends who visit him often. (Kelly and Ann, I'm talkin' to you.)

Naturally, when I moved back to Paris, Rainy Day Moose had to come along and have a Francophone adventure of his very own. I try to tote him with me every day so he can see the sights and pose for tourist-y photos—which mostly end up being blurry close-ups of his furry schnoz in front of a variety of monuments.

So now that you've been formally introduced, I hope you enjoy this brief chronicle of Rainy Day Moose's travels thus far. The Moose is on the loose!

Rainy Day Moose sets off on his Parisian adventure.

The Moose has landed!

The view from Rainy Day Moose's new digs.

First up: see the sights!

A little shopping never hurt anyone...

Rainy Day Moose roots for Argentina at the World Cup.

Rainy Day Moose visits the Senate building in the Luxembourg Garden. 

Rainy Day Moose at the scene of the crime: where Dad proposed to Mom!

Rainy Day Moose found a tiny moose-sized Panthéon!

Rainy Day Moose watches the end of the Tour de France.