Hey Baby, How About A Big Wet Kiss?
On yesterday’s zoo safari, we journeyed through the red rocks land of the African savannah. The snows of Kilimanjaro had descended onto the plains and even though it was still below freezing a fair percentage of the large herbivores were out and about. One such species was the Bactrian camel, the two hump variety, which hales from central Asia. What it was doing on the African savannah, I could not say. Maybe, it got lost in a snowstorm? Anyway, this particular critter seemed to take a great deal of interest in us and approached us as close as it was able. At which point, Anne asked, “How far can camels spit?”
I did not know the answer to that question and at that time, I was not particularly interested in finding out first hand. Now safely back at home, I am more curious and have researched the web. The first Google answer claims that camels can spit up to 37 meters, which would have been way over our heads. So, I can safely assume that we were still in range, even after we backed up some.
The second answer seemed more authoritative, but no more comforting. First, camels rarely spit and only after being provoked. We weren’t provoking anyone and the camel only seemed curious and not agitated. Besides, what camels do is not really spitting in the sense that humans spit. Agitators do get sprayed, but they are not being sprayed with saliva. What a camel does instead of emitting saliva is that camels will emit some of the partially digested contents of one of the chambers of their fore-stomachs. Like I said, this second answer was no more comforting than the first.
On Saturday night, we visited the Rep’s Studio Theater, to attend the play, The Other Place, by Sharr White. Here is its synopsis:
Brilliant research scientist Juliana Smithton (Kate Levy) is on the cutting edge in her field, but her life is beginning to come unhinged. While promoting her groundbreaking drug for the treatment of neurological disorders, she experiences a disturbing medical episode of her own and begins to lose her own tenuous grasp on reality. The past blurs with the present and fragmented memories collide in this riveting drama where nothing is as it seems.
Friday at work, I had described this play to a younger engineer and was greeted by a quizzical look of why would you want to pay good money to see something like that? In truth, we got tickets for half-off, but more importantly while the themes embodied in this play might not have been relevant to my younger friend they are to us. Besides, watching Kate Levy devolve through her performance, alone was worth the price of admission.
