Orphaned elephants at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Thanks to Kaye McKenzie for this link to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, to which you can contribute by adopting or fostering an orphaned elephant or rhino.

Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick (“the first person in the entire world to successfully hand rear newborn fully milk dependent African Elephant orphans”) explains the organization’s philosophy: “Saving wildlife and wilderness is the responsibility of all thinking people. Greed and personal gain must not be permitted to decimate, despoil and destroy the earth’s irreplaceable treasure for its existence is essential to the human spirit and the well-being of the earth as a whole. All life has just one home — the earth — and we as the dominant species must take care of it.”

You can also donate in honor of a friend, and receive a lovely watercolor of an elephant to send to your friend in place of a more traditional gift.

The site includes lots of information about elephant and rhino conservation, and an article about elephant emotion., ending with this quotation from Henry Beston, from The Outmost House, and written in 1928:

“We need another and wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals …. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings, they are other Nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”

It’s a delightful combination (if I may say so) of naughtiness and humor; one reviewer called me “the Shel Silverstein of erotica.” Here’s a sample:

Z is for the zipper
Easy access, up and down.
Nothing is much quicker
For getting to the mound.

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can pick up a copy (just $7.95) at Book Passage, either at the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco, or at 51 Tamal Vista Blvd. in Corte Madera. It comes with a complimentary packet of Chocoholics chocolate body frosting, while supplies last. Together, the book and the chocolate body frosting will make an unforgettable Valentine’s Day gift!

If you can’t make it to Book Passage, the book is also available online (but without the body frosting).

Either way, you’ll heat up Valentine’s Day, and you’ll feel so good about supporting a local author.

Finally, John was so fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot, and the parrot got angrier and ruder. In desperation, John grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for more than a minute.

Fearing that he’d hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John’s outstretched arm and said “I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I’m sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior.”

John was stunned at the change in the bird’s attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, “May I ask what the turkey did?”

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!