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Gus the Spud

This is a non-crochet, but real-life blog post.  One of those moments you know will slip away if you don’t chronicle it.  A moment that won’t be funny in a week, but one you’d like to remember.  I couldn’t think of a better way to immortalize my dear friend Gus than to blog about him so here goes.

Allow me to start from the beginning by introducing you to the latest member residing in Apartment 416:  Gus the Spud.  Though my college has a single-sex residence hall policy, Gus has been living in our apartment, or more specifically, on our kitchen counter, for the past 2 days.  He was an old spud, but was happy and optimistic, cheery and gregarious.

Gus the Spud

As Dave Matthews said, “Life is short, but sweet for certain.”  Gus truly lived by that principle.

Gus was first discovered by my roommate and me as we were cooking dinner two days ago.  We wanted a side of potatoes with our chicken so we reached into the 10-pound bag of potatoes we’d bought three months ago.  We were greeted with SPROUTING SPUDS.  Gross.  Some potatoes had a few sprouts, some more than others.

One spud in particular stood out:  Gus.  Unlike his fellow potatoes who had spuds growing every direction, Gus had an unusual cluster of sprouts only on one side.  I saw him and knew he had to stay.  After drawing on a face and propping him up against a vase, Gus was born.

It was simple and just felt right.

The following morning, Gus mysteriously left a note for our apartment, wishing everyone a good morning and a great day.  (I’ll let you in on a secret – it was me.  I wrote the note).  In the evening, when we returned from classes and meetings and busy days, we were greeted with a less positive note.  Gus had taken a turn for the worse.

He had given up on life.  After only two days, it became too much for him.  Instead of the cheery face we had gotten used to seeing, he was dead.  Dead.  Just like that.  I was devastated.  Gus had left a single, simple note reading, “Girls, life is rotten… it’s time for me to go.”

Gus the Spud is dead.

I’m not certain who wrote the note, but my suspicious are my roommate, Jenny, who wanted Gus gone from the instant he was born.  She denies her involvement, claiming she loved Gus, but I have my doubts… Either way, it’s truly a tragedy.

Gus, was given an honorable burial (read: pitched in the trash).  You will be missed, my little spud friend.  Thank you for all the laughter you brought to our life.

RIP GUS March 28 – March 29th, 2011.

One Comments

  • aaron

    August 31, 2011

    Hi Jayna: Just wanted to thank you for your little story about Spud. It made me chuckle. I ran across your blog while searching for an old friend of mine whose nickname is Spud. I had my hopes up, because there was a slight resemblance, until you killed him off (just kidding!).

    Anyway, I like your sense of humor. Nice hats too. Thanks for sharing.

    Have a good one, aaron 🙂

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