The Story Keeper

Thrush, original watercolor painting, 12 X 9 in, brown green olive green forest birds

Cattle guard

when michael nichols first photographed forest elephants in the lowland forests of the central african republic in 1991, he only caught fleeting moments of them, and at great peril. these sensitive giants were so afraid of ivory poachers hunting them down that they thundered off at the slightest hint of human activity.

it took him 16 years to encounter a heard of 600 savannah elephants who were not fearful of humans. he would end up living with them for two years in kenya’s samburu national reserve, where he came to understand their complex relationships and the depth of their intelligence and compassion (click pics for more).

he recounts, for example, a family mourning the death of a female and other matriarchs approaching and surround the corpse, touching it with their trunks and swaying back and forth. “they go to the corpse and they won’t leave it,” he said. “even when it’s just bones. once a year they’ll visit the bones and hold them with their trunk. i would call that mourning” (sixth photo).

“these are the most caring and sentient creatures on earth, yet they suffer so horribly at the hand of man,” he adds.  while in chad, nichols witnessed the massacre of forest elephants, the smaller and more elusive cousins of the better known savanna elephants, whose denser, pinker tusks fetch 90,000 dollars a pair on the black market.

forest elephant numbers have declined by two thirds in the last decade due to poaching, leaving only 20,000 left. ivory poachers are now killing a total of 22,000 african elephants a year, which means they are on course to be extinct within the decade.

says nichols, elephants “cannot be terrorized and massacred by a world that calls itself civilized. we have to forget about the absurd indulgence of ivory and put our focus and resources into the far more complex problem of how elephants and humans can share land in an overtaxed continent.” 

Meet 93 year-old Betty Reid Soskin — the oldest active national park ranger. Once a file clerk in a Jim Crow union hall during World War II, Soskin is now helping preserve WWII history at Rosie the Riveter National Historic Park in California. Read Soskin’s amazing story: http://on.doi.gov/1xfpPQD #WomensHistoryMonth

Today’s Classic: Great Quotes from the great Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

oscar wilde was literally the coolest guy who ever lived

master of sass

HE WAS BISEXUAL. We get to claim the sass master.

NO YOU REALLY JUST Oscar Wilde lived in the VICTORIAN ERA He was a really controversial guy. He hated his society. He also went to jail and destroyed his career because he was in a gay relationship with a Lord. He was a badass. To be honest

His last words were “either the wall paper goes or I do”

Day 7/100 (2/25 Thursdays) : Ayla the Norfolk Terrier. 🐶 21 x 21 mm. #potluck100pfa #fursdays #miniature #watercolour #paintingsforants #norfolkterrier (at Buchanan Square, Woodstock)

Lake Sorvagsvatn located in Faroe Islands, between Norway and Iceland. It is 30 meters above the Ocean.

Be kind unto animals. Be kind unto life.

All animals, including the ones your society deems “food animals”

That last one made me cry

 I hope that all people who treat animal awfully will burn in hell for eternity.

Animals bring out the best in humanity

Yes, I’m a bit of a golden🌌girls fan. Repost @rebeccathoughts

Found a cool spot on the Sehome Hill Arboretum in Bellingham.

My mantra. Or one of them hehe

Sunset and Pier http://flic.kr/p/qzCNnd Sunset and Pier

Dog Rescues Tennis Ball from Crevasse

Oliver, a Golden Retriever from the Boston, MA area, has rescued a family of five tennis balls that had fallen into a crevasse that opened up near his house. 

"The snow has been so bad here this winter that we’re starting to see a massive ice sheet form in the backyard," said Oliver’s roommate James McCalla. "It’s dangerous out there — you never know where the ice might split open. It’s three feet deep in most places. Sometimes even three and a half."

According to McCalla, Oliver noticed that tennis balls at the bottom of one crevasse while out on “walkies.”

"He didn’t even hesitate," said McCalla. "He just dove right in and rescued the balls. He’s a hero, if you ask me. They’d have been out there until spring if not for Ollie."

Local media is reporting that the tennis balls are now resting comfortably in Oliver’s doggy bed.

Via cturn3r.

Gotta love my piano dog! #NYC #piano