July 30, 2018:
At the Zoo, with young Joan Embery and a sleeping cheetah. Beautiful, beautiful cat. A lifetime later I'll learn that Cheetah is my spirit animal. Perhaps I knew that already.
Skyfari: I'd have not liked that back then. High above ground in a bucket on a wire: not my thing. Sea World, kitties, aircraft carriers, the Star of India: this is what they did back then.
My mother barbecues. Steak and hotdogs on a Hibachi, smoke rising straight into the upstairs neighbor's apartment. She's on our patio, an open space of concrete and banana plants in planters which somewhat break up the uniformity. She holds her head back as though she's afraid she'll be burned, while gingerly reaching for a hotdog with a pair of tongs. I expect that's for me.