Day 136

9/27/22

Today was Sam's first real day of "Therapy Dog in Training!" To say he was a hit would be an understatement! He literally was born to do this work! After being greeted by the staff over at Walker Residence, we surged forward and met some of the seniors who live there. He melted every heart he touched!

What is it about babies? I can't think of many members of the Animal Kingdom who don't produce cute "littles." Puppies, kittens, piglets, calves, foals...the list goes on and they are all cuteness personified! We want to protect, hold, and meet their every need.

When I was at Anoka Senior High School, the music department would always have a Pop Concert each spring. There would be a theme and the choir, orchestra and band would all participate. My favorite year was "Under the Big Top" and circus music abounded!

The field house was decked out with countless card tables and chairs for the pie-eating guests, three stages, decorations galore AND numerous parachutes hanging from the ceiling. If that wasn't enough, we also had a special guest...baby Sapphire, the elephant!

As a publicity offering, a few of us were asked to go down to Como Zoo to meet Sapphire and have a photo shoot. Now, I had never seen an elephant at Como and haven't seen one since, but that is where she was. We were escorted down in the basement of one of the animal buildings and slowly approached the little girl! 'Little' meant about 300 pounds of love!

When we were asked if we would like to take her for a walk, we could not believe our ears! Of course, we said we would ABSOLUTELY want to take her for a walk, so up the stairs we went...sturdy leash in my hand!

This was probably 50 years ago, but I remember it like it was last week! I do remember being surprised by the long hairs baby elephants typically have on their bodies. She also had the smallest sparkling eyes I had ever encountered! She was adorable, affectionate, interested in everything around her AND she had a cold! Her nose was running profusely, but that didn't stop our photo shoot or the enjoyment of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Before we returned her to her cage, Sapphire did happen to step on my foot. I can attest to the fact that she weighed AT LEAST 300 pounds!

In my opinion, babies are some of the best things on earth. Even though they rely on us for everything, they still bring us so much joy! When you think about it, babies are the only things on earth who can simply "take" and not "give." We have no expectations of reimbursement for our efforts...except for the feeling we embrace within.

I guess we all need some cuteness in our lives! Now, if you handed me a baby snake...