Who is Baby Lion? To begin, you must start at the beginning - the original Baby Lion. 

Baby Lion was a stuffed animal that my sister and I shared when we were about 5 or 6. He may be on the couch above being serenaded by Suzanne and I, although archeologists have not yet been able to identify him in this ancient cave drawing. The original BL wound up in the local dump after being loved to a threadbare state. My sister and I returned every week when my did took the trash there so we could try to find him. We searched and called for him and everything else. (If this were a movie, there would be a swell of achingly soulful and heartbreaking music at this point.)

Fast forward about 35 years... 

I explained the sad tale of Baby Lion to 8-year old Grace (below left) when I met her at the Pirates in Paradise Festival in 2008. Grace took the story to heart. It inspired her, out of the goodness of her heart, to create a replacement for the lost original Baby Lion. *sniff* 

As her mother, Lady Constance, explained to me in a message:

"Yesterday we went to fabric store -- Grace and the other children were pouring over the crafts patterns in the pattern books--- Grace selected a lion pattern and some scrumptiously soft fabric to make a stuffed lion...and then she looked me direct in the eye and said "Momma, do you think we will ever see Mission again?" And in all honesty, I said "Of course we will! Why wouldn't we?" I found that odd -- in the middle of the fabric store that she would say such a thing.

It was not 'til later that it HIT me---Grace has every intention of replacing your old favorite baby lion---!!!!!!!!!!!--She is going to make you one.......!!!!!!

She does not think much of the pattern she choose and prefers to return it. She says she can design a better one -- a "flat lion so he can hide in your daily life." And she says "It will make his heart happy!"

So that's how it was explained to me. Now, how could that not make my heart happy? A few weeks ago I received the new Baby Lion that could 'hide in my daily life'. (In fact, he is currently sitting on my shelf of things I love and find amusing at my desk, hiding in plain sight.) You can see him in his fuzzy flat glory above left, clutching a new wooden spoon. So that's how the new Baby Lion came into my life. 

Since that time, I have made Baby Lion ('BL' for short) my traveling companion and excuse to take photographs on my travels. You may wonder why I need an excuse to take photographs. You will never know. (Why should you? I don't know.) Ok, enough summing up. To see what BL has seen, click on the links below. 

Mexico Feb 2009

Honduras June 2009

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