I've mentioned my love of Zuni fetishes in the past, and I think I've even mentioned how I started collecting them. Basically, it all started with my dad and my love of Arizona. I have three fetishes of my own---a raven, a wolf, and a fox---and tonight they were joined by the two that my dad owned.

This is very difficult for me. One of those fetishes is a horned toad that my sisters, brothers, and I bought for my dad a couple Christmases ago. The other is a bear that my dad bought while we still lived in Illinois. I should explain that I anthropomorphize. A lot. Particularly inanimate objects shaped like animals. So when I brought them out of my bags tonight after returning from visiting my family this weekend, all I could think was how confused they must be. They're used to living on my dad's desk---alongside the turtle Rose Red gave him when she was a little girl and the sea serpent that I played with when I used to visit his office as a kid---and now they're in my apartment, away from their friends and away from my dad.

I've formed a little welcoming party for them with my fetishes, and I know that this is really more for me than for them. I take solace in the fact that the bear fetish---the first fetish I ever met and my favorite type of fetish---represents strength in times of change. I can only hope it works for me just as much as it works for them.