I am a primatologist who spends twelve hours most days in the company of a thirteen year old chimpanzee named Bow. I am also an editor with Inverted-A Press.
It wasn't rainy in the morning, but the sky grew progressively darker. By the time I went for my after lunch walk, it was beginning to look stormy.
The hawks tried to finish up last minute hunting.
The sky over our ribbon of private road became a very dark shade of greyish blue.
Bow was not happy. He hated it when the rain started to come down and the thunder sounded. But, surprisingly, after a brief display at the weather gods, he asked to play with the iPhone. As long as he was making faces at the screen and taking selfies, the weather did not phase him.
After a while, Bow got very sleepy. It was dark in the pen, and he had his fill of sticking his tongue out at the camera, so he lay down on his blanket, with one foot on my leg, and started to fall asleep. Every once in a while the sound of distant thunder made him open his eyes, but he was not too worried.
I am cautiously optmistic about HB284. People have called and asked how they can help. There has been much activity on the legislative front. My informants in Jefferson City think the bill will not be passed and that the parallel legislation that is being introduced in the state senate is also getting nowhere. But it feels like a roller coaster, coming up for the vote and getting passed out of committee one day, then getting shelved the next, and who knows what tomorrow will bring. In this way, politics is a lot like the weather.
Bow was enjoying the warm weather that came upon us recently, spending most of the day outside with Lawrence on Wednesday, but then by evening everything changed. Storm clouds flew over our property, the winds picked up, and even the tiniest flowers tucked safely underfoot began to tremble.
After dinner, the storm came in.
Besides the big show that a storm always brings us, there was a considerable drop in temperature. I had to start heating the pens again. All yesterday it was quite cold out. Today, it's may be a little warmer, but still too cold to play outside before noon.
Earlier this morning Bow asked to go out, but no sooner out, than he wanted to go right back in. But the cool weather made him playful. When we went back inside he was jumping and initiating a short chase sequence, making happy whistling-like sounds with his mouth. Then he kissed me and examined my hand and led me to the glass where he spelled: "Give me a rug." When I gave him the rug, though, he had trouble deciding what to do with it.
And now he is napping. When the weather changes again, he will be well rested and will have plenty of energy to accept new challenges.
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