Wildlife Safari Photos

My giraffe-neurosis-addled child finally got to me yesterday, so we headed south to see our favorite animals once more.





























This is Noah's beloved Havari. We got to hand feed him and Mayte last year. Havari is very mild-mannered, affectionate, and just very, very gentle and sweet.





This is Mayte. You can see he's kind of a type A sort of personality. He's BOSSY.

Continuting to showcase Karinda's belly....

.....until she issues a cease and desist order ROFL

Laughter....That Most Healing of Medicines.

Okay, Okay, I'll go along.....

Everyone else is posting their fave MJ videos. I have mixed emotions, his mental health in his later life was sooo mismanaged and poorly treated, and yet, well....ugh. I'll stop there.

I'm putting in this video, I know the beginning is a bit to sit through, but it makes me nostalgic because I used to watch Carol Burnett for all the years she was on; I remember sitting with my parents and just laughing and loving it all. So here it is:



When I have any wistful thoughts of the loss of this mentally ill perv in need of help musician, I am wistful for the loss of the musical genius, the cultural influences beyond music (any aerobics class in the last 20 years includes his moves, been there, done that)....and mostly, I am wistful for the loss of his own innocence in childhood.

Would he have been the musician/performer he was without the childhood he endured? What would the cultural loss have been if he hadn't?

In my personal book, NO victimization of children is EVER acceptable, not in any way. As a complete aside, however, I have two children, one who is quite mentally ill, and I cannot just cut her from the fabric of our family to protect my other child. Cutting her away would be just as painful for him as keeping her with us. As she grows older, though (10 years old in a few short months), these questions weigh heavier and heavier on my mind.

Back to MJ, would a different childhood have meant a black hole where all the awesome musicianship and genius and cultural influence would have been, at the price of preserving the innocence of an unknown number of children, including himself? Okay, I said I'll stop, so I'm stopping.

I am including this photo, because,

1. The photo is techinically FABULOUS, and
2. It really shows so much strength and effort and just.....so much ALL of himself in the music and the performance.



Okay, can't help it. Couple more:



And this one, they won't allow embedding.

Okay. Done.

Wanda Sykes. LMAO

Part 2:

So, We Visited My Cousin's Farm

She raises a few pigs still, as my uncle did before her.





But her passion is sheep. This is a mama and her triplets:



I feel like a jerk for not remembering the name of that particular breed, but most of what she raises are registered Suffolks, which are Very Tall Sheep. The adults have black legs and heads, with white bodies, and they are usually born all black. Witness the sheep whisperers:





My cousin had one last set of bottle lambs; they are male/female twins whose mother died unexpectedly after their birth. Noah got to feed the male, who was quite friendly, and nearly overtook his 'feeder', and Wrenna got to feed the female, who needed a little more coaxing to take her nutrition from a stranger. The brother, on the other hand, was right there all the while, just in case his sister decided she'd pass on this feeding for the day:













And, of course, there were various litters of kittens to be investigated and oohed and aahed over.



Just as much fun as when I was a kid!

Smart-Assedness

He can't help himself.



He comes from a long lineage of smartasses.

Always, ALWAYS Close The Lid!

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Goo. Ber. Part Deux.