Getting ready in the morning is quite a process. Sure, Jamie has all his hunting gear to put on but it takes me just as long. First on is the cuddlebugs long underwear, thick socks, layers of additional clothing- all topped with a sweater. This is just to go have breakfast inside. They don't need heat here (well if I lived here there would be a heater but our PH's are wearing shorts so I suppose we are wimps). The mornings are around 40-45, which at home in the spring would be a welcome change from 10-20, but we were coming from 90 at home so I will don my long underwear thank you very much. It is the end of winter here and just so you know that doesn't mean that the sun rises in the west and sets in the east (yes, I did ask this question).
I was greeted at breakfast with birthday wishes and balloons. A white rock completed the birthday fest. (if you are clueless to what this means then you haven't been reading...shame on you) After a 15 minute breakfast the guys are off. This is quite a birthday to remember. As I sit in the enclosed hallway of the main house the sun is just starting to hit my face with a brilliance unmatched. The air is so pure. In comparing the starry sky at home it is like we are looking through dirty windows even on the clearest night after seeing the night sky here.
I am debating about a walk down the path this morning. I did one yesterday in hopes of a glimpse of wildlife but my walk only produced images of thorny bushes and the sunrise. Now the sunrise is gorgeous mind you, but I am sick with anticipation of all I know we have left to see. I want to see it all in one day and then see it again and again until I have had my fill. One does not need to be here long to know that the fill will never occur.
So, back to my walk. As my feet wandered yesterday, so did my mind and a ways into my trek a memory of a conversation entered my mind. There are leopards in the area and though they are typically very shy of humans these are not tame kitty cats. Given that I walked more briskly back to the safety of home. As I lay awake in the night (with apparently nothing better to do than to think) I considered a better strategy for ensuring safety as I walk (though I am told it is really safe but then again we were also never told that plastic in the microwave causes cancer either so one must watch after oneself). I concluded that if I could fashion some sort of holster, I could take along my weapon of choice- a water bottle. Now, before you laugh you must know that a water bottle has previously gotten me out of dangerous and precarious situations in the past. To be smart, the safety would be left off and I suppose I could go to the range and "sight it in", as they say, so I could properly judge distance. For those of you considering such an option for yourself you are wondering what caliber I intend to use. Given I had hours to think about this I came to the conclusion that the best caliber would be what they call a "straight shot". The "fine mist" caliber was also considered but the drawbacks outweighed the strengths. On the one hand you have the "shock and awe campaign" (as I refer to it) going for you. Imagine the surprise of a leopard having his face drenched from a two footed creature. The drawback, however, is too great to consider this option- a shot coming from a weapon should not be refreshing. This leaves the only logical choice to be the straight shot caliber. One to each eye in quick succession (pardon the graphic nature) should leave the animal running with his tail between his legs. It would be prudent to take the time to sight in because if you end up with a caliber in between the results could be less than pleasant.
As a backup I thought (again because I had the time) that it might be a good idea for me to go to the laborers house and borrow one of the Texan dinner bells to hang around my neck. We have seen from experience how effective these are in warding off any kind of animal. I only had seconds to savor my cleverness when reality set in. How quickly I forgot the tableside strategy laid out last night concerning the hit that was taken out on the donkeys last night. Wearing a Texan dinner bell at this point would be suicide. Coupled with that is also the reality that hungry animals (for the sake of argument let's just say leopards) also know the Texan dinner bell sound associated with something that could potentially provide sustenance. Clearly this is not a good option. Now if I would choose to sing as I went along the path, that would ensure my safety and also provide double duty by scaring the critters closer to the hunters. Hmmmm.
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