WhatChuckSays

Should have posted this yesterday, but better late than never! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!! 

I love Christmas.  I have always loved Christmas.  I love my family’s traditions and I love giving my loved ones presents.  Also, I am not ashamed to admit that I love receiving presents as well.  But over the last 10 days or so, I have felt uncomfortable as the streets and stores are stuffed with people buying gifts which are almost certainly not needed.  I feel that somehow, that which we hold most dear, just one month prior, has been shoved into a dusty cupboard, only to be dragged out next November at the appointed time of year when we give thanks for all that we have.   

This year has not been a particularly easy one (they never are, it seems), but I am here, I am healthy (more or less, recovering post-surgery foot and a bit of a cold nonwithstanding), I have managed to pay my bills, I have lovely friends, and my family is not only all healthy, but we have had a new addition this year!  I have a lot to be thankful for and I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate it.

And with that moment of reflection, it is important not to forget those in the world who have far less than I.  In memory of my grandmother, Doris Morgan, who dedicated her life to helping those less fortunate, I have donated to Oxfam and sent a goat to a family in need.  I hope that it makes their Christmas a happy one and helps to make their 2012 just a little bit easier.

(http://www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com/Goat-charitable-gift.html?gclid=COTYpeTDmK0CFUZ66wodTUEumQ)

And with that, I wish you all a Happy Christmas and here’s to 2012 bringing nothing but good things. 

C.x

Anyone else suffer from severely itchy feet?  I don’t mean the kind treatable by a spray ointment!  I mean the kind that can only be cured by packing my suitcase and embarking on an adventure.   Leaving the familiar and ordinary behind and seeing life from a new perspective, if only for a few days.   Seeing the world, experiencing new places, trying new foods, reconnecting with far-off friends- it’s what I live for, everything else just kind of gets in the way.

Next up is Los Angeles for a long weekend in August.  I’m looking forward to hanging with my brother and my new nephew, seeing some friends, and having what will surely be a spectacularly amusing surf lesson.  I have a theory that I’m a truly awesome surf Betty in disguise.  I have been told (by more than a few people!) that I will probably be sorely disappointed, but you never know!!  I shall remain hopeful until the very moment I face plant directly into the water, coming up spluttering and gasping for air.  And even then, I can’t promise you I won’t hum the music from Blue Crush to myself, every time I “paddle out”.  See… I’m already using the lingo and EVERYTHING!! 

Anyway, here’s hoping that I prove everyone else wrong and find the one sport that I am just innately good at… I mean, everyone’s good at something, right?    

RIGHT????

I saw Born to be Wild yesterday with my father.  Both of my parents were raised in Kenya and I grew up spending every Christmas there with my paternal grandparents.  I have visited the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi many times in my life.  It is an amazing place.  When I was very small, they still allowed visitors to socialize with the elephants- pet them, talk to them, feed them branches… I have one very vivid memory (I must have been about 7 or so) of standing in a wooded area with a very small little elephant, just talking to it as it nuzzled me and wrapped its trunk around my arm.  I have been very lucky in my life to have had such incredible experiences. 

Kenya is a part of me.  It is home.  I realize I may be totally biased, but I was left wanting more from Born to be Wild.  If I had done this film, I would have split it into two separate movies.  Both stories are so great, compelling and inspiring, but I felt that the film just scratched the surface.  Perhaps I am unusually interested, but I think these are stories worth telling in their entirety.  Birute Galidikas and Dahpne Sheldrick’s work with these creatures is nothing short of heroic.  They have both committed their lives to making a difference to species that are critically endangered.  This world needs more people like these two incredible women. 

It is impossible to see this movie and not understand the necessity to protect these animals.  You see the deep understanding and emotion in their eyes- you see the sadness, the loss, the fear and then you see their confidence return with the happiness and knowledge that they are safe and loved.  These little babies are more like humans than many would probably like to admit. Babies that need love, affection and the support of a family to thrive.  Actually I would go so far as to say that a baby elephant is far more emotionally developed than a baby human.  In the sense that the loss of their mother (and specifically if they witness her murder if she is poached) will leave them so traumatized that they can quite easily die of a broken heart.  And it stays with them… that memory remains a part of them.  Most human babies only have memories from about the age of 2 onwards. 

Elephants are such incredible animals.  I can’t think of any other species that creates an adoptive family, cares for eachother, and teaches one another in the way that these elephants do.  It is quite clear to see that they truly love one another and know that they will only survive if they take care of each other… and that is a lesson that we could do to embrace in the human world. 

From my time spent in Kenya and my deep love of the country, its people and its animals, I connect more with the elephants, but the orangutans and their story is also deeply moving.  And who doesn’t find themselves wanting their own wheelbarrow full of baby orangutans?!  These are seriously cute little creatures!!! 

If you would like to sponsor a baby elephant, you can do so at: http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/fostering.asp. 

This movie comes out today.  Everyone please go and see it!  It not only looks fantastic, but the work that Dame Daphne Sheldrick does is amazing.  I have spent a lot of my life in Kenya and grew up visiting the baby elephants at the orphanage in Nairobi.  They are not only incredibly cute, but we humans could learn a lot from these majestic creatures.  If you would like to sponser an elephant you can do so at http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/fostering.asp… it is money well spent and goes directly to the little ele’s that so desperately need saving.