The "Monkeying Around" Story

It was an ordinary day. Waiting for the guy with the monkey to show. Saw him a few days ago on Dover Beach and didn't get to speak to him and his monkey. Later that evening in the town of Oistens we saw him again and stopped to talk with them. Monkey was an 8 week old green monkey named Youngmon and like a puppy, wanted to play and jump on everyone. And, I forgot to mention that he liked to nibble on you with his sharp teeth. Lunged for me and scampered up my arm and put his arms around my neck and grabbed my neck with his teeth. 'Just playing'! But, it hurt. Finally his owner pulled him back from me. Wanted a photo of the two of them so made arrangements to meet them on the beach in a few days. Here they come. Grab the camera and take a shot. Hand the camera to my wife Carol and see if he will come to me again. Oh, yeah! Up my arm onto my shoulder. With no hair to play with, he grabs my ear and starts to nibble. Carol shoots away. "Hey, that's the ear that I already lost the top of." He finally retreats to his owner and I grab the camera for some shots of the two of them. Youngmon grabs an almond off the tree above him and starts to remove the outer shell. We had seen many green monkeys on a previous trip to Barbados, but never got to interact with them as today. Not quite sure how long he will remain friendly, but really had a great visit today. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.