May 8, 2020 thought for the day: A friend advises in his interest, not yours. Arabic Proverb

It is a rainy dreary day. The weather men have even suggested possible snow flurries. I have been biting at the bit to get the house plants outside. I had every intention of beginning the move this Sunday, Mother’s Day. That is the day they say it is typically safe in this part of the world to put plants outside. It looks like this year it is going to be a little later.

Yesterday’s photo challenge title was “a throwback”. I went way back in my archives to find a selfie taken before “selfies” were a “thing”. I was pregnant for my first child. (turned out to be a girl .... named Tami).

I have noticed that there seems to be a problem with my tiny solar powered bird bath fountain. I have it set up in a plastic bowl-like container. I think there is a leak. I filled it yesterday morning. When I checked the water level twenty minutes later, the water was half way down. I will try to line the container with a layer of plastic before considering a completely new one.

Sue needed some things from Walmart so I dropped her off earlier this morning. Since I didn’t need anything at the moment I came home to get some things done and wait for her to call when she was ready to come home. She wanted to spend some time shopping. She is very good about reading labels thoroughly.

The exterminator came yesterday to give me an estimate for removing the squirrels from my ceiling. It is going to take a huge chunk of my “stimulus” check. It has to be done. They could do much more damage that could end up costing more than the “exclusion” process. They will begin the process on Monday. Apparently it takes several days. After they catch what they think is all the “visitors” they will plug the holes.

The word today is forgiveness.  Those who cannot forgive others break the bridge over which they themselves must pass, Confucius. We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature, Voltaire.  Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? Abraham Lincoln. To err is human; to forgive, divine, Alexander Pope. If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Good to forgive, Best to forget, Robert Browning. The more you know yourself, the more you forgive yourself, Confucius. This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge keeps his wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well, Francis Bacon. Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again, Saint Augustine. The world is full of judgment-days, and into every assembly that a man enters, in every action he attempts, he is gauged and stamped, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The offender never pardons, George Herbert. Five enemies of peace inhabit with us - avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride; if these were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace, Petrarch. To love is human, it is also human to forgive, Plautus. 

Because of the heavy overcast sky today I am going to have to go to the archives for today photo theme, “the sky”.....  this photo of all those fluffy white clouds was taken last year in the good ol’ summertime.

I always like stories about our Columbus zoo. I think this one will give us an idea of how the workers, and maybe the animals, are coping with the pandemic. Of course the zoo has been closed to the public during this quarantine but people have had to take care of the animals. Here are some of the experiences they are having as they keep the animals “safe, happy and healthy”. Normally as they feed the animals there are crowds watching and enjoying how the animals react to receiving food. Now the paths through the park are “eerily silent and empty”. Before the pandemic the zoo was expecting this to be a special year for the visitors. We have the nation’s only baby polar bear, born in 2019, and the two new cheetah cubs born through in-vitro fertilization. The zoo keepers are taking care of over 10,000 animals. Assignments have been chance to make things safer for the employees. They are divided into small teams and have staggered work shifts. There are a lot of conference calls and group chats to keep things running smoothly.

All the keepers wear masks and gloves for protection of the animals as well as the workers themselves. They are use to this in other years especially around the apes due to their susceptibilities to disease. There won’t be any interns during this season as is the custom for spring and summer normally.

At the “Shores” the tortoises are missing public interaction. Bubba, 73 and Sonny, 53 are the zoo’s oldest animals. They seem to enjoy getting their shells rubbed and having “conversation” with the car givers. Visitors to the zoo generally rub their shells so the keepers have to substitute for now. They love the attention but since it is not known how the coronavirus works experiences are limited to keep the animals safe.

At the “Heart of Africa” the complicated process of reintroducing the heat loving animals from the winter habitats to the pastures is done at this time of year. Too much exercise all at once could injure them. They fence off areas so that small spaces are introduced at a time and widened every few days. Since the staff is more limited now this can be a challenging process. The gazelles, wildebeest, zebras, giraffes and others have to be treated with care. The animals have to relearn noises and signals in case they have to be separated for one reason or another.

Food for the animals no longer comes from the zoo’s nutrition center, it has to be picked up from outside the building to reduce “interactions”. The zoo vets are checking the animals from a distance with photos and videos.  Even though things have changed for humans during this pandemic the animals need to have things kept as normal as possible.

The article mentioned the connection to the news of several cats at the Bronx Zoo being tested for the virus there was some extra thought. One of our tigers came from the Bronx zoo earlier this year. The keepers are taking a little “every precaution they can”.
Pizza again....

Joy