Our little one had President’s Day off from school and Daddy was able to get the day off as well.  I had no work either because all my clients were at home.  And so it was with great anticipation that we went to visit the Dallas World Aquarium, located in old warehouses in the middle of downtown Dallas.  What they have been transformed into is nothing short of amazing.  One minute you are in an urban North American concrete jungle and the next you are transported seven stories up inside a tropical South American jungle surrounded by a myriad of native plants and animals to that region.  First is the Orinoco rainforest, which has everything from birds in free flight to an unenclosed three-toed sloth hanging out by the bar.  Pygmy marmosets can also be found as well as an anteater.  Winding our way down, we made our way to my personal favorite, El Lobo Del Rio, “The Wolf of the River,” as the the giant otters from South America are known.  They are the largest of the thirteen species found throughout the world, and are a pure delight to watch.  Unfortunately, they are now threatened with extinction largely due to the commercial value of their beautiful pelts.  They were heavily traded in the 19th century and, coupled with their habitat reduction, their numbers have been severely depleted.  Once you make your way down to the first level you may observe from beneath the great waterfall an Antillean manatee munching on Romaine lettuce, as well as huge, Shovel-nosed catfish and Arrau turtles all swimming around to the wonder of visitors.  In the aquarium portion you can see glow in the dark jellyfish that are mesmerizing to watch as well as a Night Reef teeming with Flashlightfish whose eyes glow in dark.  Seadragons resembling seaweed float by on the bottom of another exhibit.  Colorful Caribbean fish swim in and out of coral reefs and, from the cool waters of British Columbia, you can see a Pacific giant octopus, sea anemones, sea stars, sea cucumbers, and urchins.  Next you can step outside and catch the antics of the Cape of Good Hope’s black-footed penguins.  The climate in Dallas is similar to that of their native South Africa.  Returning back inside the journey continues as you enter into the Mundo Maya.  But first you must traverse an incredible clear, wide tunnel where sharks swim all around you and sawfish pass languidly overhead.  At the heart of the exhibit is the Temple of the Jaguar.  It is a multilevel exhibit which allows for the great cat to go outside at will.  There is a Ceiba tree, thought by the Mayans to be the “Tree of Life,” as well as cycads and tree ferns, primitive plant species abundant during the age of dinosaurs; the Mesozoic Era.  Also to be found, standing five feet tall and with a wingspan of eight feet, is the Jabiru stork, among the largest flying birds in the New World.  Sadly, these graceful giants are threatened or endangered throughout their Central and South American range.  The Dallas World Aquarium states part of their mission is “to help instill an appreciation and understanding of our interdependence on the Earth and its fragile ecosystems” and is committed to multiple conservation efforts, with many of the species they house being part of a cooperative breeding program with other zoos in the United States and throughout the world.  Some involve specialized breeding groups which may be reintroduced into their natural habitat.  Loretta Lynch, the 83rd American Attorney General of the United States, said ”We all have a responsibility to protect endangered species, both for their sake and for the sake of our own future generations.”  Zoos are thankfully evolving and some are becoming bastions of protection for both the globe’s flora and fauna.  On this day we were fortunate enough to have traveled the world just by a short car ride, seeing a host of creatures thriving.  We were able to do it all without even leaving the city of Dallas on our tropical staycation.

As I have often stated I never had the privilege of living in a house until I got married.  One of the things I instantly loved was our big, sliding kitchen window.  Growing up we had a tiny, enclosed galley kitchen.  My mother cooked incredible meals in there made from scratch, but I longed for a kitchen window that looked out upon a yard.  After we bought our house I begged my husband to let us put in a little koi pond, and now every time I am at the sink I have a view of double waterfalls, our five beautiful fish swimming languidly in the water, and often water lilies in bloom.  A great black wolf statue stands majestically at the top of the falls, and to his side is a large white statue of St. Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Animals and Ecology.  He is depicted in such a way that he appears to be smelling the flowers, with his head turned facing Gubbio the wolf.  It is serenity by its very nature and when I open our kitchen window I can hear the soothing sound of water flowing over the huge rocks.  In the mornings I often hear birds singing or the chattering of squirrels.  On summer nights I can hear the rhythmic, deep “brrrraaaaaaap” of toads calling to one another.  And I love to watch dragonflies drinking from the pond.  Before this the only thing back there had been a solitary fig tree.  We built our pond around it and I had the workers use the three massive slabs of leftover stone to make me a bench underneath the branches.  As I name all my trees, he became known as Mr. Figgy.  I spent over a decade watching him bloom and grow.  In the summers I’d watch him become so bushy I learned to prune him.  In the fall the three of us delighted in watching the squirrels gorging themselves on the literal fruits of his labor.  This last spring I taught my child how to climb him.  My daughter has adored Mr. Figgy and I had visions of building a tree house around him.  Then the arborist delivered some devastating news:  Mr. Figgy was getting long in the tooth.  He had already been treated for some type of borer worms.  We thought he was better but then she pronounced he now had mold.  “Oh NO not Mr. Figgy!” my little one cried as I silently echoed her sentiments.  My mind traveled back to that book “The Giving Tree” I’d read so often as a child.  With great sadness, I realized Mr. Figgy did not have much left to give.  And so I gave the order, feeling like a cold-blooded killer assassinating a beloved friend.  I wish I had taken a picture of him.  My little one and I went outside, told him what he’d meant to us, and then said good-bye.  “Can we keep a piece of him?” she asked.  And then we heard the chainsaw roar and could not bear to look.  After it was quiet I got a call from our gardner who said, “he had something for his Princessa” and so I called my little one outside with me.  The picture you see here is what he gave her.  It is literally Mr. Figgy’s heart that was cut from one side of his base.  Manuel said he had done nothing to shape it but when he noticed it was so perfect he wanted us to have it.  I love what Saint Basil, the 4th century Greek bishop of Caesarea, once said:

”A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds.  A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.”

Mr. Figgy was so much more than a tree; he was a dear friend whom I aspire to be like more.  I am immensely grateful we have something so special to remember him by.  Mr. Figgy gave us all he had:  his buds in the spring, his shade in the summer, his fruits in the fall and, in the winter of his life, he gave us his heart.

Each day I pick my little one up from school and we pass a house on the corner of an intersection which has brought us immense joy.  Situated on the edge is a deer which, to our delight, always seems to be dressed for the occasion.  At Christmas he sported a Santa hat and my little one and I were tickled to see the deer rocking a New Year’s hat for 2018.  What has captured our fancy the most, however, is how you see him pictured here.  Cleary he is between holidays and yet he is wearing a festive scarf and ear muffs.  My six year old and I have HOWLED as we’ve passed by.  Clearly someone cool lives there who is dressing him according to the season.  Recently I decided to ring the doorbell and inquire about the deer on the corner who is so nattily attired.  An 81 year old woman named Nancy responded and informed me that “Bob” the deer had been in her yard since 1990.  She wanted a deer that her first grandchild could ride and he is named after her brother-in-law Bob.  Multiple attempts have been made over the years to steal him, but her husband cleverly placed him in cement and had him rebarred for good measure.  Somewhile ago a heart wreath was placed around his neck for St. Valentine’s.  Another time Nancy came outside to discover dear Bob had been cheerfully festooned with Mardi Gras beads complete with a sequined mask.  She said someone volunteered to outfit him for St. Patrick’s Day this year.  Since no one has claimed the patriotic holidays of Veterans’ Day, the 4th of July, and Memorial Day I have requested them.  Bob has acquired quite the collection over the years.  He already has rabbit ears for Easter, an inflatable raft and sunglasses for the hot summer months, and even a Hawaiin lei.  And the two-leggeds are not the only ones who have noticed.  Nancy says she has gotten to where she can identify a lot of the various dogs who bark at him as they pass by.  “Bob has been to rehab like me,” she said as she told me of the repair she has done to his front and back legs.  She has learned to mix cement to fix his signs of aging and has also painted him several times to keep him looking good.  I greatly admire this widow for staying active and maintaining a playful sense of humor.  Wayne Dyer, the American motivational speaker, once said:

”The child inside of you knows how to take things as they come, how to deal most effectively and happily with everything and everyone it encounters on this planet.  If you can recapture that childlike essence of your being, you can stay ‘forever young at heart.'”

So what adventures are next for Nancy and Bob?  I can only say, “Oh deer!”