My Big, Gray (albeit silly) Passion

I really should have studied biology. Too bad I’m terrible at all sciences and can’t think of anything more boring to spend 4+ years pouring over.

The only reason I wish I had suffered through it is my complete and unexplainable passion for elephants. I want to be a zookeeper. Or an elephant vet. (Do they have those?) A circus trainer. I can’t think of anything more exciting than spending the rest of my life cleaning, petting, riding and just being with elephants.

Now this might be hard to understand since they do not live in North America (where I do) and I have never actually been closer than a couple hundred yards from an elephant at any time in my life, but I find everything about elephants fascinating.

I don’t remember when I started loving elephants. Maybe it was a book I read when I was younger or the first time I visited the National Zoo with my family. But it happened, probably suddenly and overwhelmingly.

I have several stuffed animal elephants, countless trinkets, statuettes of elephants in all sizes and colors. I even have an elephant candle-holder. Now, thanks to my boyfriend and his wonderful gift-giving talents, I have purple elephant earrings and the most beautiful silver elephant necklace that gets me more compliments than any other thing I have worn.

It’s starting to seem silly, how many elephants I own. My boyfriend teases me that if I traded in every elephant that I own, it would probably equal a real elephant. But I can never get enough of this unique animal.

They’re intelligent; that has been scientifically proven. They remember everything (as the saying goes) and they live very utopian lives. All the females live and travel together. They split the child-raising, hunting and protecting between them all. Their communities are built upon respect, responsibility and love. The men are nomadic and solitary, strong and independent.

They are not normally vicious creatures, but remember wrong-doings and can seek revenge if they feel a constant threat or pain. (Anyone read Water for Elephants?) They also become attached and protective of others even outside of their species. Not to mention, they're cute. Just a little hairy, a curious and sensitive trunk, big floppy ears. So much to love.

Every time I see someone riding an elephant (I’ll admit, I watch The Bachelor) or Animal Planet featuring elephants, I sigh, swoon and complain that I would give anything to be doing that. What is it about these animals that I am so attracted to? I couldn’t care less about kittens, monkeys or panda bears, but I would literally move to Africa if I could own my very own elephant.

Maybe someday I will.

May 23rd

I wear red Soffe shorts, a Relay for Life t-shirt and my running shoes. Not your typical ‘first-date attire’. I do my best to make a pony-tale flirty. 10:50 a.m. on a Sunday. My phone buzzes twice. A text reads, “I’m going to be a little late but I’m more than prepared for our date today, so I think that makes up for it.” I can’t help but smile.

We’re going hiking at some mysterious place near Natural Bridge, forty minutes from where I live in Salem. After many hints at a date, two reschedules and a lot of flirting, I cannot wait to go on this hike.

If only I had known. It starts raining on the way, but not enough to convince us to turn around. The ride is quiet but comfortable. All I can think is “Goodness this boy is cute; why on earth did he ask ME out?” And a few times, “I really hope I don’t trip and fall down this mountain.”

It seems like a pretty easy hike. Not too steep, and the path is clearly marked. But after an hour, I realize we’ve barely started. We come to a giant mound of fallen and broken marble which is the hike. I then see we are not just hiking after all; Devil’s Marbleyard requires rock climbing.

Here, I need to explain: I am 5’3”; my date, 6’2”. He is also a hurdler. I picture him bounding up the rocks, while I struggle, slip and eventually fall to my death.

None of that really happens, but he does seem to have a much easier time than I do. I try to follow his steps but cannot possibly reach my legs as far as he does and get stuck several times. He’s patient, helpful and laughs at my clumsiness along with me (points for him).

It starts to drizzle, so we stop to eat lunch. He made PB&J sandwiches (more points!) and has water. We attempt to keep climbing in the rain but it gets slippery and we decide to head back down. Big mistake. Climbing down wet rocks is even harder than climbing up them. I slip a few times, my heart stopping with each stagger and I really become scared I might really be injured on this date. What a great start to a relationship. But I don’t fall and we do survive without a scratch. We get only slightly lost the way back but soon we’re in the car. A quick hug good-bye confirms my suspicion that I was not exciting enough and probably complained a too much about the difficult hike. Thankfully, I am wrong again, because two days later he takes me to the zoo and we get lost (it becomes a regular thing) looking for a place to eat.

Fourteen months later, we haven’t had a dull date yet. Sometimes we settle for a movie instead of dangerous hikes and animals but it’s always exciting. And I continue to tease him about our near-fatal first date.