Letters for George: Yin and Yang

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Yin and Yang

Akilah, Tessa, and Kimba at the Cincinnati Zoo (Feb. 2009)

Dear George,

We had a tragic event at the Zoo last November. One of their three Massai giraffes, a 12-foot-tall three-year-old female named Akilah, had gotten her horns caught in some netting designed to protect young trees in their enclosure. Apparently the stress of the event caused Akilah’s heart to fail, and she was found dead shortly afterwards in a sitting position. Akilah was the most popular of the three giraffes, the first to run forward to the children at daily feeding times. Moreover, her death came less than a month after a baby Rhino died at the zoo shortly after its birth. Our zoo is a major local institution, drawing well over a million visitors each year, and the losses were mourned in the community at large.

Then, quite remarkably, the two remaining giraffes, 4-year-old Tessa and 3-year-old Kimba, produced a new six-foot-tall baby yesterday morning just in time for spring. The calf was born at 9:40 a.m., started trying to stand at 10:00, and successfully nursed at 11:10. It was the first giraffe birth at our zoo in 26 years. Mother and daughter are both doing well. Because they’re being given a high level of privacy during this bonding period, staff still don’t know the sex of the baby. Zoo director Thayne Maynard said, “It’s been a long time, but well worth the wait. Just when you think you have seen it all, something truly amazing like this comes along (and) reminds me how special nature truly is.” Amen.

Love,

Dave

P.S. Here are some first day photos of Tessa and her yet to be named baby.

Tessa, Kimba, & Baby (Apr. 2, 2011)

[Sources: cincinnatizoo.org, cincinnati.com, wlwt.com, Google Images]

G-Mail Comments

-Gayle C (4-3): Very cool. What a story :))). LOL

1 comment:

Terry OApril 4, 2011 at 6:28 PM
Hi David - About ten years ago, several women friends and I went to Kenya on a safari. The giraffes were a wonderful part of the experience and I was delighted to see their presence at your municipal zoo! Terry
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MARCH 2024 HOLIDAYS

Sun., Mar. 10. Daylight Saving Time starts. Clocks move forward one hour at 2 a.m. // Sun., Mar. 17. St. Patrick’s Day. Celebrating one of Ireland’s patron saints and Irish-American culture in the U.S. // Wed., Mar. 20. Spring Equinox. One of two annual equinoxes in which the length of night and day are nearly equal. // Thurs., Mar. 21. World Poetry Day. Promoting linguistic expression through poetry. // Sat., Mar. 23. Purim starts. A Jewish holiday which commemorates Jews being saved from extermination in Persia. // (Source: wincalendar.com)

CINCINNATI NEWS

CINCINNATI NEWS

According to ratings by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, Cincinnati ranks 4th best in parks among the nation’s 100 largest cities. 88% of Cincinnati residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. Neighborhoods where most people identify as a person of color have access to 4% less park space than those in predominantly white neighborhoods. Park amenities ranked high for Cincinnati in categories of basketball hoops, playgrounds, bathrooms, recreation, senior centers, and splash pads. Dog parks were much lower, only 1.6 dog parks per 100K people. Cities ranked higher than Cincinnati were Arlington, VA, St. Paul, MN, and Washington, D.C. (wcpo.com, 5-5-22)

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Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1888. His father, a prosperous businessman, sent him to Milton Academy and Harvard where he excelled. At Harvard Eliot studied philosophy, earning a master’s degree under George Santayana. He then studied linguistics, poetry, and philosophy at the Sorbonne and at Oxford University, settling in England after his studies, working as a banker, and writing poetry. Eliot published his first masterpiece, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, in 1917, and he followed it with “The Waste Land” in 1922, a long poem that had tremendous impact on Western literature. Andrew Lloyd Webber adapted Eliot’s 1939 children’s book, “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” into the stage musical “Cats”, one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1948, Eliot died in 1965. (Tessitore, Extraordinary American Writers, 2004)

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Katja had appointments with her primary care physician and pain doctor. She had a fall at T.J. Maxx, banged her head, and was taken to emergency by ambulance but turned out o.k. We toured the new Clifton Cultural Arts Center, complained that they didn’t have our name in the wall of donors. I put most of my academic library out for graduate students in preparation for moving offices at the university. We had dinner out at Longhorn Steakhouse, chop steak for me, lamb chops for Katja. I shed a tear at Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office on PBS.