December 8, 2007
Crazy Like an Elephant
We need to talk about elephants for a minute. The reason? For Christmas, Keith gave me an elephant spare tire cover for my Discovery. Why did he do that? Because I had to have it.
Many moons ago when I was but a wee lass, I would wander over to Florida's west coast with my friend Lisa to the Renaissance Festival and the Medieval Fair. Oh, the days of getting sand everywhere--seriously--and listening to people affect some sort of British accent while enjoying a rollicking funny show or twelve and noshing on some yummy festival food.
On one particularly fine afternoon, Lisa and I were wandering around, looking for cute men in tights, I'm sure. Our attention aroused by a commotion, we looked to the right to see none other than a large elephant charging toward us--screaming children on its back and a very brave "trainer" digging his feet into the sandy ground and holding onto a rope tethered to the elephant.
That stampeding elephant ran within just a few feet of us, and the two of us just stood there with our mouths hanging open watching the spectacle.
A couple of hours later when we walked by the elephant ride, it was closed. And the poor elephant was tethered with a chain and rocking back and forth. I'm sure he was enjoying the thought of his act of rebellion.
Ever since then, Lisa and I have been a little elephant crazy. We frequently gift one another with various elephant statuettes, stuffed elephants, elephant note pads, and any elephant greeting card we happen to find. It's a little obsession that we enjoy.
So now I have my very own stampeding elephant with me wherever I go. And I'm very happy about that.
Rita Diane Devlin
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