We used to live right by Long Island Sound. I would swim every day the water was above 58°. Whenever I would swim and got surrounded by a school of menhaden, I was always terrified that one of those big blue fish would mistake my big toe for a food source.
Oh, man, Dan. If you are ever surrounded by menhaden, definitely get out of the water. The bluefish wouldn't just get your big toe. They are crazy on the hunt, and will bite any part of your body.
Another lovely story. I once spent a morning with Sarah Durant myself. I forget what the precise focus was of her research at that point, but it involved playing recordings of a wildebeest or buffalo bellowing in distress (as if being hunted) and then waiting for lions to turn up. I'm guessing now that she was monitoring lion population densities. In any case, two male lions duly came trotting towards our car with baleful eyes. What struck me most was how Sarah described lions, as brutes. I was shocked. Until then, I had always been enamoured of lions (I lived in Tanzania as a child), but from Sarah's perspective, they represented a direct threat to cheetahs, her study subject and another favourite of mine. I have had conflicting feelings about lions ever since. But I agree, observing animals brings with it a unique sense of fulfilment.
Lions ARE brutes, to cheetahs, wild dogs, and a lot of other midsize predators. They are also amazingly lazy, sleeping 20 hours a day, and their sex lives! The male bites and otherwise harasses the female to get her in the mood. Finally, he climbs aboard and 30 seconds later, he's done, and wanders off. To sleep, of course. I could go on ....
Funny you would say that. I watched "A Complete Unknown" last night--great film, great rendering of Dylan by Chalamet and, more surprisingly, of Pete Seeger by Edward Norton. So this morning I was re-reading the song, or imagining how someone who could sing might sing it, and the exact same Dylan tune came to mind. Singing it to the tune of "Stick a Pin There," as the broadside suggests, would take some harder research.
We used to live right by Long Island Sound. I would swim every day the water was above 58°. Whenever I would swim and got surrounded by a school of menhaden, I was always terrified that one of those big blue fish would mistake my big toe for a food source.
Oh, man, Dan. If you are ever surrounded by menhaden, definitely get out of the water. The bluefish wouldn't just get your big toe. They are crazy on the hunt, and will bite any part of your body.
Another lovely story. I once spent a morning with Sarah Durant myself. I forget what the precise focus was of her research at that point, but it involved playing recordings of a wildebeest or buffalo bellowing in distress (as if being hunted) and then waiting for lions to turn up. I'm guessing now that she was monitoring lion population densities. In any case, two male lions duly came trotting towards our car with baleful eyes. What struck me most was how Sarah described lions, as brutes. I was shocked. Until then, I had always been enamoured of lions (I lived in Tanzania as a child), but from Sarah's perspective, they represented a direct threat to cheetahs, her study subject and another favourite of mine. I have had conflicting feelings about lions ever since. But I agree, observing animals brings with it a unique sense of fulfilment.
Lions ARE brutes, to cheetahs, wild dogs, and a lot of other midsize predators. They are also amazingly lazy, sleeping 20 hours a day, and their sex lives! The male bites and otherwise harasses the female to get her in the mood. Finally, he climbs aboard and 30 seconds later, he's done, and wanders off. To sleep, of course. I could go on ....
The Queen’s Ass scans nicely against “The Times They Are a’Changing,” sans the repeat of the titular line.
Imagine she’s a pretty nice mule but she doesn’t have a lot to say.
Beautiful piece once again.
Funny you would say that. I watched "A Complete Unknown" last night--great film, great rendering of Dylan by Chalamet and, more surprisingly, of Pete Seeger by Edward Norton. So this morning I was re-reading the song, or imagining how someone who could sing might sing it, and the exact same Dylan tune came to mind. Singing it to the tune of "Stick a Pin There," as the broadside suggests, would take some harder research.
A poet lurks there, Mr Conniff...
Dylan is a poet, no doubt.
Thanks, Dick. I especially enjoyed the analogy between the Red-tailed Hawk and Julia Child😊
Thank you, Evan
Such a lovely reminder... thank you
And thanks to you, as always