In 1986, Dan Harrison (see picture above) was on holiday in Kenya  after graduating from Northwestern University .  On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Dan approached it very carefully.  He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.   As carefully and as gently as he could, Dan worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.   The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.  Dan stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.   Dan never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Dan was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son.  As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Dan and his son Dan Jr. were standing.   The large bull elephant stared at Dan, lifted its front foot off the ground, and then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Dan couldn’t help wondering if this was the same elephant.   Dan summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Dan’s legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn’t the same elephant.

:)

I went to see Juno the other night and was pretty much blown away by actress Ellen Page’s performance here. There’s Oscar talk about this and I can totally see why. The movie itself was A+ material but Page handled the role of Juno in a way few could. There were so many opportunities for that performance to go astray with a lesser actress, but Page kept you right there with Juno the whole time. Loveable, real, everything else. Of course, the rest of the cast here was superb with my hat off to Jennifer Garner for her beautiful performance as well. A definite must see, especially while it’s still at my favorite Roanoke movie theater The Grandin.

Awesome new restaurant opened in Grandin Village recently and I would be certain this one is here to stay. The Issacs Restaurant (there is a menu on their web site) specializes in Eastern Mediterranean foods with salads, appetizers, sandwiches, and entrees a VERY reasonable prices. I think the three of us got a good sampling of the menu offerings and everything was delicious.

Apparently they are going to be open for breakfast as well, trying to fill a need in the Grandin area for quick full blown breakfast fare at reasonable prices.

I feel so fortunate to live withing easy walking distance of both Downtown Roanoke and Grandin Village. Really, Grandin has everything you really need with the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op and the Mick or Mack, The Grandin Theater, a book store, Pop’s Ice Cream and Soda Bar (with it’s fine weekend entertainment!), a furniture store, consignment shop, pharmacy, and coffee shop. Not to mention all of the great restaurants.

A day filled with “eventness” !! Parade at noon was LONG this year, and COLD and WINDY…..kind of seems like a tradition. Headed down with Paula, James and Becky…

then next door neighbor Jim showed up a bit later…

and it was a great parade, Roanoke style. Then after the parade we had lunch at Paul’s where you can get the best value in Roanoke. A Gyro Platter which includes a Greek Salad, gyro and fries for only $ 4.75. AWESOME!

Caught this sure sign of spring on the way to and from the house…

Then down to the City Market where the great controversy is brewing over the Center in the Square project to take over part of the vendor stalls. Found this cool dude at Walter’s Greenhouse stall…

Then we met up with Pam and Stork for a beer tasting at the Jeff Center which was pretty decent. Bowl with and a Cheesy Western at the Texas Tavern before we headed back to the Jeff Center for the Second Wynde concert.

Then….as if we hadn’t already done enough…..off to The Green Dolphin where Bebop Hoedown was playing. They sounded great.

Now, I’m beat and have to still finish painting the living room. Will be SO glad when the upstairs project is over. But the floors look great and we should be able to move back in by Tuesday.

Here’s a few more parade pix. Later!