The Laughing God
I’m obsessed with elephants – well yes I am – the collection of elephants in my house should be a hint. After spending time at the Riddle’s Elephant Sanctuary in Arkansas in 2006, I realized up close and personal that there is absolutely no way to anthropomorphize an animal the size of a building. There is nothing cute and cuddly about a prickly skinned animal who could care less if your bones are crunchable. And the truth – and this is true – elephants are prejudiced – they like their own kind. As a matter of fact, they love their own kind.
That’s why today when I was watching this video about a black dog and an elephant, I couldn’t help but smile and think about Loca in heaven playing with an elephant. And it also made me wonder why that girl in the bikini was riding the elephant and why anyone would want to go see these exotic animals in Myrtle Beach where they DON’T BELONG.
I think about elephants a lot and have a deep affinity for these creatures, but I’m not delusional like the one woman who was at Riddle’s when I was there who started kissing the hind quarters of a big mofo male elephant. I worry about elephants because people are stupid and they are being poached to extinction – these magnificent creatures are being killed for their tusks to make ivory tchotchkes for a growing ignorant population in China that demands them. Please stop you ignorant idiots – the world does not need more tchotchkes, it needs more elephants.
Meanwhile, as I thought of elephants and Loca in heaven on this, another steamy rainy afternoon in New Orleans, I began to think – Monday started with an arrow pointing downhill as I got news of a loved one in crisis – and I became convinced that God is bored again and is stirring the pot – which brought me full circle on elephants as one of my favorite Hindu gods is Ganesha – the remover of obstacles – the insanity of Ganesha is Ganesha puts the very obstacles in your path that you pray to him to remove – just to mess with you. It’s all sort of insane and absurd.
Had it not been raining, Tin and I might have gone outside to eat our dinner as a nod to Sukkot to contemplate the universe that is bigger than us and our problems – instead we lit a candle, said Tin’s verse from school and let out a deep breath.
We pray while God’s laughing. I need to remember that and try not to think too much.
