The Otis Files. Otis – The Final Tail. Or Not…

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Otis finally left us at the age of 16. Apparently in her last two weeks she would go and visit some people around the corner who had two huge dogs and several cats. They told us that she would walk up to the animals’ bowls and help herself to their food, then lie down in the garden, and their dogs and cats would all lie down around her. On the last day they found her in her final sleep, in the same situation.

In some of the later photos here, her physical deterioration is evident, but she was still really big on the inside… Continue reading →

The Otis Files. Otis, I Notice 7

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'You are feeling coooold. You need a warm furrrrry thiiiiing in your bedddd....'

‘You are feeling coooold. You need a warm furrrrry thiiiiing in your bedddd….’

Otis, I notice

Likes sleeping on beds

And sometimes enjoys

Curling up by my head

She’ll come in the dark hours

And prod me to show

It’s time to move over

And share my pillow

She’ll tap me quite gently

With padded wee paws

But if I don’t wake up

She’ll put out her claws Continue reading →

New Erawan Paradise Elephant Camp – Please Spread the News. :)

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Slowly, positive changes are happening, thanks to Lek, the wonderful founder of Elephant Nature Park.

Erawan Eles pic 72Save Elephant Foundation’s Sangduen “Lek” Chailert, along with a group of volunteers, recently freed five elephants from Sai Yok elephant camp. Their new home is at Erawan Paradise, located in Kanchanaburi, in midwestern Thailand.

Located approximately 50 kilometers from Kanchanaburi, Thailand, the Erawan Elephant Retirement Park is the newest project sponsored by the Save Elephant Foundation. The first five elephants to call the park home arrived in early July, 2013. All the resident elephants are former tourism elephants, rescued from trekking camps, street-begging or performance shows.

Spread over 50 acres, the facility operates similarly to Elephant Nature Park and volunteers will help maintain the retirement property, as well as assist the mahouts with the elephants.

Watch the movie via the link below – it’s fantastic to see this stuff happening.

Erawan Elephant Retirement Park

The Otis Files. Otis, I Notice 6

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Sometimes when she’s washing she’ll leave her wee tongue peeping out of her mouth, which really looks dumb!

Sometimes when she’s washing she’ll leave her wee tongue peeping out of her mouth, which really looks dumb!

Otis, I notice

Likes to be clean

But you’ll never see her

In a washing machine

She uses her tongue

To comb out her fur

It’s got brushy bits on

For getting out burrs

Sometimes when she’s washing

She’ll leave her wee tongue

Peeping out of her mouth

Which really looks dumb! Continue reading →

The Otis Files. Otis, I Notice 4

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I really want to touch you but you're icky and sticky...

I really want to touch you but you’re icky and sticky…

Otis, I notice

Is quite into bugs

She’ll chase after wetas

And follow the slugs

She’ll poke at their feelers

With tentative paws

And sniff at the slime trails

Crossing the floors

The wetas will poke back

With big spiny legs

And cling to her fur

Like ugly clothes pegs Continue reading →

The Otis Files. Tribute to an Old Friend – Otis, I Notice 1

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And she also has stripes on one leg at the back... Otis, Queen of the house - apparently.

And she also has stripes on one leg at the back… Otis, Queen of the house – apparently.

Otis was a friend that I lived with for 16 years. We moved many times, from the forest to beside the highways and many places in between, and she was always there, somewhere in the background, usually no more than 12 feet away from me. She wasn’t a lap cat, nor a smoochy cat, but we had a very special friendship and I miss her very much. I truly hope I see her again some day. This is the first installment of my 8-part tribute to her. Continue reading →

Bucket List? Huh! I’m Turning 50 and I Have a Pooh List.

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Evil personified! This one took a jandal hostage and wouldn't give it back until lots of food was thrown at it. Bundi, Rajasthan.

Evil personified! This one took a jandal hostage and wouldn’t give it back until lots of food was thrown at it. Bundi, Rajasthan.

You hear the term ‘Bucket List’ bandied about quite often, yes? I was fortunate enough to cotton on at an early age that the world is a fascinating place and I had started a list of countries and things I wanted to see by the time I was 12. Tibet, the Pyramids, Bedouins in Arabia, Castles in England, Frogs in the Amazon, Iguanas in Galapagos, the usual run-of-the-mill stuff.

I’m not entirely sure where the ‘Bucket List’ term originated, but since I’m about to turn 50 and inherit my license for eccentricity, I’ve decided that I shall have a Pooh List. I know – I’m such a grown-up. And I’ve already ticked off several of the items on it: Continue reading →

Life is Far Too Important…

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“Life is far too important to be taken seriously.”

— Oscar Wilde

Playing with Faa Mai. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Playing with Faa Mai. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Pachyderm Banana Hoovers and Buffalo Sludge-Boulders – Day 7 Elephant Nature Park

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Two BFF's at the elephant clinic, Elephant Nature Park.

Two BFF’s at the elephant clinic, Elephant Nature Park.

Jodi had told us that some of the elephants could be drama queens, and on this last day I got to see it for myself. I was lolling about in the dining area having my morning coffee and looking across at the elephant clinic, where there was always an elephant to be seen who lived there on a semi-permanent basis due to her need for ongoing foot treatment, plus another elephant who hung around keeping her company. Every day at ENP I had seen both of them there together. Today something caught my eye – there was only one elephant (Number 1). The more mobile one (Number 2) had gone for a wander around the back. Elephant Number 1 suddenly noticed she was gone and made a hell of an uproar! She started bellowing ‘Come back! Where are you?!’ – presumably in Thai Ele language – and kicking up a right fuss. I spotted the other one come out from around the back, and I actually saw her heave a great sigh. She took her time wandering back to the front of the clinic then trumpeted to Number 1 – ‘All right! Keep yer proboscis on, I’m here!’ They touched trunks and felt each other all over for a little while then settled back into their usual routine of, well, eating. Ah, the trials and tribulations of a BFF relationship. Continue reading →

Nature’s Tattooes and Captured Lightning in Acrylic

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I was reading about the Fractal Patterns of Lightning Strike Scars here, then I saw the captured lightning stuff. These guys get to play with some really cool toys!!

“This 3″ x 3″ x 2″ three dimensional Lichtenberg Figure was created by ebeam irradiation along multiple planes. The internal potential within the specimen prior to discharging it was estimated to be 2.2 million volts. The specimen is illuminated from below by blue LEDs.”

Lightning captured in acrylic.

Lightning captured in acrylic.

See more about this at capturedlightning.com 

Enjoy!!