The Camel

By Lenny Stoute

My dad travelled a lot so I never did know for sure where the camel came from. He was totally unlike any toy I had ever owned or seen or even heard about. Because this camel had eyebrows. Yes. Eyebrows made of camel hair. In hindsight, this camel looked a lot like the comedian known as Borat.

And a tail also made of camel hair. He had weirdly jointed legs and kind of swayed back and forth as he rode on his wheeled base. His neck and head were hinged so they also bobbed when he moved. I tell ya kiddies this camel had the groovy moves and when he came rolling out from under the Christmas tree he had me in the palm of his hoof.

Over time the camel lost various body parts, which I always replaced as best I could. After the head came off for about the 20 hundredth time, it was replaced by a dizzying succession of heads including GI Joe, Godzilla, Barbie and a dragon-headed action figure from Indonesia. But guess what? Through all those years and identity changes, the tail remained stubbornly attached to the camel’s butt and for years remained, in my memory at least, as glossy and alien as Santa himself.

Warm jammies to all and to all a good life.

My favourite Christmas sing is Joy To The World. This world can never have too much joy.