On my birthday I can typically go one of two ways: either I want to spend it being completely low key with takeout from my favorite local gyro joint, or I want to use the occasion to try a reportedly fabulous and new (at least to me) restaurant.
On Saturday, June 7th, several dozen supporters of Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants gathered at the Zoo's west entrance under the mid-morning sun of a beautiful spring day to hold a silent vigil in memory of the seventh anniversary of the death of baby elephant Hansa.
On a recent sunny Sunday in mid-April we set out towards the rich farm fields of Skagit Valley to see millions of tulips blooming in a dazzling array of colors.
In 1974 the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge was established to "to protect the delta and its diversity of fish and wildlife habitats." It's a beautiful and, at $3 per vehicle, inexpensive way to spend a day exploring the delta's rich variety of animal and plant life.
Back in Chiang Mai from our stay at Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary, we had a little over twenty-four hours left in this wonderful city before flying out to Hong Kong for a few days on our way back to the States.
They were an anxious lot, and there was nowhere to go but straight into their ranks. Would we be greeted as friend or foe? Welcomed warmly or despised? I took a deep breath and, hoping for the best, opened the truck door and stepped out. That's when the mob surged forward.
Each morning Wassana, Lotus, and Pang Dow, aka the Gossip Girls, strolled past us on their way to eat the banana feast we had gathered for them. When these three lovely ladies get together there is much squeaking and trumpeting because, like all close girlfriends, they enjoying sharing secrets, laughing, and doing a bit of gossiping while they eat a great meal together.
Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary founder Katherine Connor could best be described as a peaceful protester utilizing non-violent resistance, diplomacy, love, and kindness as her weapons of choice. She sees the good in people even as she describes the horrors of the abuses she has witnessed by humans towards elephants throughout the country.
Our days and nights at BLES were long and relaxed, yet went by much too quickly. It's a lifestyle that is hard not to envy despite all the very hard behind-the-scenes work required to run an elephant sanctuary. Negotiating rescues, acquiring land, providing food and medical care, and the constant fundraising is a tremendous amount of work; yet Katherine has established a peaceful oasis that permeates love and hope throughout.
There's been a baby boom at Elephant Nature Park in the past year and you'd be hard pressed to come up with anything cuter than a baby elephant - except maybe three baby elephants!
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