Heckle and Jeckle

These crows (which are actually Victorian cream jugs) lived in Mum's house for as long as I can remember. My uncle bought them for her. He had only wanted to buy one, but the junk shop owner told him they couldn't possibly be separated - it would be bad luck. So we have them both.

Mum called them 'Heckle and Jeckle' after the 1940s cartoon she watched as a child, but they never featured prominently in the house. They were always pushed to the back of a shelf, or on the top of a very high cupboard. I don't think she really liked them much.

Then one day about 4 yrs ago, after having them in her home for over 50 years, Mum told me out of the blue:
- I've got rid of Heckle and Jeckle. They were giving me the creeps.
- You've done what?
- I didn't want them in the house.
- Have you binned them?
- No. I took them to the park and shoved them in the hedge.
I thought she was joking.
- You haven't.
- I have. I wanted them right out of the way.

So we didn't mention it again, but it was bothering me. And that night I messaged my son, who was as incredulous as me, but managed to make me laugh:
- If she puts them in the hedge, they might build a nest and lay porcelain eggs though. Which will hatch out into even more Heckle and Jeckles!

It was, of course, the beginning of Mum's Alzheimer's. Looking back, this was probably the very first sign, although at the time I had no explanation for why she would suddenly put Heckle and Jeckle in the park hedge.

A couple of days later I phoned Mum and asked her if I could have Heckle and Jeckle. She agreed, somewhat reluctantly, but went and retrieved them, and brought them to my house (she was still driving then). They have been with me ever since.

I've recently given Heckle and Jeckle new alternative names - Huginn and Muninn, after Odin's ravens. In Norse, Huginn is 'thought' and Muninn is 'memory.' Odin was said to send his ravens out into the world every morning, and they would sit on his shoulders and whisper all they had seen into his ears.

'Huginn and Muninn
Fly every day
Over the vast earth.
I fear for Huginn
That he won't return
Although I fear more for Muninn'