The Story Behind Time to Go Home

August 19, 2020

Whisk passed away in October 2004. She lived a long life for a mouse, but I wanted to fill the void she left. On October 20th, I got a dwarf hamster that I named Talis. He had white fur, with flecks of gray so he looked silver.

Like me, Talis was a bit of a hermit. He’d come out, run around, explore a bit, then return to the little hamster potty we got him. He brought this shred-a-bed stuff we got him – little squares of material he could shred and fluff up to build a nest – inside and pack himself in.

That’s how I remember him. A bit grumpy, ready to explore the world around him, but knew when it was time to go home.

I posted Time to Go Home on the day we celebrated as his birthday, July 20th, three months before I got him. Like Whisk, we only had a rough guess as to when his birthday was, but we celebrated it every year all the same.

Also like Whisk, Talis had a lesson to teach me all these years later. I don’t go out much (especially not now), but I don’t always keep track of the time when I do (or when I’m doing anything else, really). It’s important to know when to take a break, and it’s important to know when it’s time to go home.

#StoryBehind