Tuki Turns 20 Months

When does a parent quit tracking the age of their children by months?? I sure don't know, but it's hard to believe how much she has grown.

In honor of Tuki, I have copied a story my friend had sent me. What touched me the most was this is a trans-species adoption story. There was a need and a tortoise, supposedly an animal with a less advanced nervous system, thereby less ability to problem solve, learn, have compassion and kindness, just stepped up to meet the need of a baby hippo. No thinking, no thoughts of can it handle being a hippo in a tortoise world, nothing. I learn alot from watching my natural world around me and I can't help but think that we humans sure make things complicated sometimes. We way over think, analyze, and talk about things,and when I say we, I am most definitely talking about me too. Adoption, caring for another who is in need is obviously VERY natural.


NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the

tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong

bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal

facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about

300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki

River into the Indian Ocean , then forced back to shore

when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on

December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.

"It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a

male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to

be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu,

who is in charge of Lafarge Park , told AFP.

"After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized.

It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother

Fortunately , it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond.

They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added.

"The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother.

If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive,

as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.

"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and

by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their

mothers for four years," he explained.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,

but by the moments that take our breath away."

This is a real story that shows that our differences don't matter

much when we need the comfort of another.

We could all learn a lesson from these two creatures of God,

"Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk the path together."


"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves."