Journeys

 Dear reader,

I didn't know much about lions but found out that lions are the only cats that live in groups which are called prides, though there is one population of solitary lions. Prides are family units that may comprise anywhere from two to 40 lions including up to three or four males, a dozen or so females and their young. All of the pride's lionessess are related, and female cubs typically stay with the group as they age . Young males eventually leave and establish their own prides by taking over a group headed by another male.

Males defend their territory, marking the area with urine, roaring menacingly to warn intruders and chasing off animals that encroach on their turf.  Female lions are pride's primary hunters and leaders.  They often work together to prey on antelopes. zebras, wildebeest, and other large animals of the open grasslands. Many of these animals are faster than lions, so teamwork pays off. Female lions also raise their cubs communally.  Lions will also hunt alone if the opportunity presents itself and they also steal kills from hyenas or wild dogs.

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I did say I would keep you up to date every so often about my chimp and how he is behaving.  Just to remind you this chimp lives in my head.  This week he went berserk.  I thought my daughter Jessica was coming to see me at teatime on Friday.  But she didn't turn up.  Well, said the chimp, she has probably been in an accident. Not don't worry, she probably got held up somewhere, or forgot. It had to be something bad or catastrophic according to my chimp.  It turns out I had got the wrong day.  But the chimp can make life a misery and I had to give him a severe talking to.  Whether it will do any good...... 

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From Francis Kilvert, January 22nd, 1872 in Radnorshire

'Sunday.  A cold raw frost fog, dark and dreary....The Chapel bell rolled out sharp and sudden through the white mist to give notice of the service a quarter of an hour beforehand.  The hedges were hoary with rime and frost and the trees were hailing large pieces of ice down into the road.

Few people in Chapel.....I thought the markers in the Bible and Prayers had suddenly become very short, and after service Wilding the Clerk told me the church mice had eaten them off.'

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Journeys

 

Young,
we fly to distant places,
walk the Silk Road,
swim in the Nile,
climb Kilimanjaro,
sail the great seas,
picnic in the desert
under the stars.

 

Middle aged, with children,
we travel to Europe,
walk in the hills,
ski, surf board, visit museums,
exclaim at the Eiffel Tower,
swim in rivers,
raid the High Streets.

Grandparents, and old now,

we travel all over the world,
enjoy lions in Africa,
natives dancing in Bali,
big white whales in vast oceans,
and explore National Parks

while drinking cups of tea,
preparing for the unknown

and longest journey.

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^{With very best wishes, Patricia}