Dalai Lama in DC

The Big D joined us here in DC this week and wrote a spectacular piece for the Outlook section of the Post. One of his lines was "on message": suggesting that reverence for the "oneness of humanity" is the key to peaceful solutions to a number of current ills. I was interested that he spent some of his time here at the Humane Society bowing to dogs and wowing the rest of us.
I find it comforting that one, it finally rained here after 35 odd days of eerily clear days of draught and two, that the US common citizen is drawn to a figure as gentle as the Dalai Lama. So many of the US brand of celebs grab our attention for the wrong reasons: sex appeal, money, blatantly immoral behavior. YOu know the list.
So we are all basking the showers of missed inches of much needed rain water and the gracious radiance of such a significant man as the Dalai Lama. Maybe he should stop in on our folks in San Diego.

Fat and shiney

For four years now, I've worried over this mass of animal flesh: currying until the sweat runs down the middle of my back and brushing in the rhythm that generates the best muscle stimulus. Salves, ointments, inhalers and injections along with supplements, sprays and tonics are part of the investments that go into producing a fine show horse. Of course you have to start with good genetic material. This one comes from a thoroughbred dam and a warm blood daddy.

Abraham

The cry pulled me out of my bed at 5:30 on my first morning in Central America. The haunted and forceful sound made me hide behind the pillars of the house as I searched the trees to identify the source.

The large black bear like object sat still upon the delicate limb of the canopy tree. The sun rising behind it illuminated the hairs on its back revealing brown tips to the 4 inch length of lustrous coat. It had taken just 10 minutes to locate; I was breathless with excitement and gratitude. When it looked my way it gave a large yawn revealing two rows of canine teeth. It's apelike face was bejewelled with onyx eyes the size of golf balls. When it lept to stretch out on the limb and walk, I was convinced that it was a different animal: the body then thick and still, now lythe and supported by a massive prehensile tail. "The missing link! A new world monkey" I squealed at my sleeping friends, rousing them from their beds to behold this thrilling discovery. We called him Abraham. He returned later in the afternoon to our calls that we perfected over the course of the day. Joining him were 5 other adults and a charming infant monkey, who came to the nearest tree to us and lept and climbed over our heads sending out the now familiar call. The call would reverberate from tree top to tree top across the valley down to the Pacific Ocean. The sensation was primal.