Lauriate … for the first time - like the woman above me - I read your words and said "WHAT?"  And then .   .  reluctantly, I reconsidered,  for Lauriate is perfect.  But I don’t think the rest of us live in that dream world.  Perhaps we should talk … . do you think????

Lesley . .

Long after I have returned from my visits to the countries of southern Africa, I, like you, find myself exalting in the natural beauty - and haunted by the unexpected scenes of hunting behavior in the natural world.  Years later that seems freeze-framed in my mind.

I don’t want to end up sounding like an person defending the rogue behavior you have seen.  . as it seems indefensible.  But there is something called "preservation of the species" going on.  Human encroachment on what had been the home grounds of these animals have limited their territories that truly are theirs.  Just as we mark off our own home and grounds often with fences, so the lions and other animals mark theirs.  But with lions, for instance, they are more crowded together.  One pride abuts another in some places - and spills over. 

But, as in life, there is the male that wants to be king of the hill and take over another pride of lions.  Is it hormones?  Are animals hard-wired?  Fighting and killing is the only way for them.  It can be a slaughter (and I have covered my eyes more often than most).  But I have learned to believe that again it is preservation of species, assuring that the strong gene pool remains strong.  I may not like it, but I "get it".  However (!) I have never stopped being upset.

As for the chimps, in spite of what author Frans de Waal may have written, I know that chimps may kill other chimps, though their normal behavior patterns are in groups and normally protective of each other. 

What I know and understand now - and what my heart says … well, it is two ends of the spectrum.  And certainly, your own analogy has gone through my mind as well.  While I have had a few very close calls with animals in Africa (hippos and spitting cobra come to mind), I treasure  Londolozi reserve in South Africa . .  as well as all the countries so rich with an abundance of nature in the world of today.  Would I go back?  In a flash!

And Lauriate - you know me well!!!  But I had no idea you were a poet — and now am wondering what more I don’t know about you, and I expect it to be plenty .  . and I want to hear all!!   And that poetry is pretty on target!!!!

Dreams?  As I look back from childhood on, I would say that instead I have had the Big Three:  hope, belief, and - so essential - determination.  Dreams can be ephemeral … easily, they can go up in smoke.  . and so often do.  Remember the  childhood book The Little Engine That Could?  Its premise was embedded in me "I think I can, I think I can".  No one’s road is forever smooth or straight.  There are challenges, great and small, that we all have seen and lived through.  But life has been all that there could be  .  .  and so much more.  And I am still looking forward to what wonders may lie around the next corner . . for I believe that we must make each day as good as it can be.

I try.

Hi Bonnie — as I read your words, all I could think of is how fun it would be to really talk to you.  As Joni knows, my mind seems to specialize on this subject - that and relationships (and you can’t have a GOOD one without the other I found) - and my own life experiences and watching those around me have taught me so much.  My life only seems to get better with years and frankly, I am blown away with it.  I don’t call it good fortune, as my beliefs transpose into action and I make my own life unbelievable.  It CAN be done in the most beautiful way!  Joan

Perhaps I have been fortunate.  Perhaps I have always surrounded myself with other women - and men, attracted to each other by the very fact that each was "on the go" and therefore "interesting" and exciting.  I don’t believe that we have perceived ideas.  We were and are open to the world around us, and not afraid "to try", "to chance" - getting our toes wet - up to our knees if need be. 

Looking back, each of us has been constantly evolving - learning on the go as we met others who excelled.  Even today, our questions probably are preceded by the words "how" and "why".  It may not be our own personal interest - but this is the way that we too learn.  Could it be that "interested" made us "interesting" to be around?  Could it be that our quest for knowledge took us steps further than most and we made what in the business world would be called "contacts"? 

You know me so I won’t say more. . . but a friend - head of the public health service for the county - was taken to an archaelogical society meeting and museum tour.  Who would have guessed?  On the side, she grabbed a Masters at 60 while working, and through the Oriental Museum doors opened into a new world of travel all over the world to "digs".  Close to the ripe young age of 80, you can find photos of her in National Geographic on a "dig" in remote sections of Iran.  Some of her new cohorts became my friends by introduction, and the web of friendship encompassed a wide range of occupations and interests.  Yes, she found the love of her life after her own husband had passed away - which I call the "frosting on the cake". 

So I believe there is no reason to be stuck, for what we all should be is women evolving.  There are no age limits put on opening new doors that I can see, and around those doors just could be a new beginning, a largesse of companions, a job — and yes, a new love.

And that is how it has been in my life and in the lives of those close to me.  The whole of life is our oyster — and the stew made from the assortment of interests and the high level of outreach and enthusiasm resulted in a life unimagined!!

An interesting article also on other ways "the good life" at a later time can be achieved.  Thanks!  Joan