Howdy Horn Honkers. March was Women’s History Month and I’m as late as I can be. Thirty-one days hardly seem enough to talk about women anyway, just as February isn’t long enough to explore Black History.
But y’all know that women, of every ethnicity, have made and changed history.
So did I ever tell you about the day I realized that women rule the world?
I came to it quite late. Apologies to everyone who already knew. Your girl can be quite slow at times. Besides, I love men and I never wanted to upset them by saying any such thing, although I should have known that men who are solid, secure, fair, and loving, always give women their due.
I’ve told this story before, but I’ll tell it again since upcoming July/August is Leo Lion month and I am nothing if not a Leo female.
In late 2005 John and I were in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and we went to the zoo to see the exotic birds. The zoo had been damaged by an onslaught of five hurricanes (four in a row in 2004 and then a sideswipe of winds and water from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.)
The place was open but in the middle of a rebuild. Many animals were in makeshift enclosures and "yards” since their original habitat had been breached or destroyed. It's sad if you think about it in general but that's not where I'm going with this.
The lions were living in a very large fenced area enclosed by a chain link fence. Like your backyard. The fence was about 12 feet high and open on top. There was a tire for them to play with. Very basic.
In the yard to the right, sharing a common chain-link boundary, was a large tiger sleeping splayed out against the fence, stretched out in the early autumn heat, tail occasionally twitching to flick away flies.
Because of the temporary living arrangements for the big cats we could get really close to them.
John and I stood in wordless awe, gazing at the male lion. He was large and virile, muscular under his fur. Magnificent. We could have stuck our hands through the fence and touched him. We didn't, of course.
"Hey there king," I said in a soothing voice, "Hey big cat."
He looked at us.
"What's it like to be big, beautiful, you?" I cooed.
I was about to find out.