Monte the Bronte

I've been home for about a month now.  I'm in the process of sorting through boxes and boxes of all of my old stuff. I have A LOT of stuff, about 30 years' worth, just waiting to be sorted.  I've thrown away or recycled old papers and clothes, I've reboxed heirlooms, reread old letters and looked at old pictures.  I've opened boxes that held embarassing memories and quickly threw them into the garbage bin.  I've also opened boxes that held treasures about which I'd completely forgotten...

When I was younger I loved dinosaurs, especially the apatosaurus.  (Another name for the apatosaurus is brontosaurus.  The brontosaurus was a huge vegetarian with a long, long tail and a long, long neck.  Scientists think they were as heavy as 4 elephants, and that they could crack their tails like whips, and that the sound of the whipcrack was as loud as cannon fire.)  I begged my mom to please, please, please make me a stuffed brontosaurus! ...And she did.  I named him "Monte the Bronte" and I loved him as much as anything.

The other day, I was opening box after box after box.  I was getting very tired sorting through all of my stuff.  But then, when I opened yet another box, who was staring up at me? My darling dinosaur, Monte!

Back then, my favorite movie was called "Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend".  I remember that it wasn't a very good movie, but I loved it anyway.  It was a story about a couple who find a brontosaurus family living in Africa.  Like "E.T." and many other movies, they have to protect their new "friends" from military scientists and so on.  As I said, It wasn't a great movie.  However, this was made before CGI was common, and so all of the dinosaur effects were done with puppets.  Dinosaur puppets!  This was a movie made for me. I haven't seen or thought about this movie for over 25 years, but since I found Monte, I think I'll try to rent it and watch it again soon.