For a full year, since my husband and I returned with incredible photographs, my daughter Sarah has had sights set on visiting the Monkey Jungle in Miami. She wants to see up-close the charming, inquisitive squirrel monkeys, the intensely beautiful, eye-enlarged and almost otherworldly owl monkeys, and all the other primate denizens of this place. Her enthusiasm of course brings delight to her primatologist mother.
And I’d love to meet again two friends, Sian Evans and Robert Cooper, whom I’ve known since our days living and working in Gabon, West Africa. Sian and Bob make wonderful things happen in primate conservation via their work at the DuMond Conservancy, housed at the Monkey Jungle. The Conservancy’s owl monkeys, for instance, gentle big-eyed creatures who are nocturnal by nature, have left behind their previous lives in biomedical-research facilities and live now in quiet pairs or small groups surrounded by calm, wonderful care.
So tomorrow, we’re Miami-bound. It’s a family trip with a jumble of plans.
Most importantly, Sarah will sing (the beautiful hymn Amazing Grace) at my cousin’s wife’s memorial service. As readers of this blog know, Carolyn died suddenly on June 20th during a trip from Florida to Virginia made expressly to cheer my mother during her post-surgical illness. Now it is our turn to travel to family; we hope to provide a measure of comfort to Carolyn’s husband, my cousin Tom, and their daughter Dania and her own family.
And we’re taking a day, too, for ourselves—with the monkeys and later at the ocean -- in the spirit of badly-needed relaxation and renewal.
Family- and trip-related errands abound today, and as a result this post is atypically short. If it leaves you pining for a quick animal fix, consider watching the CBS Sunday Morning program this Sunday, July 17 (9 – 10:30am EST). It’s a whole special edition devoted to animals and the animal-human bond, to be rerun from its April initial appearance.
My own 30 seconds of not-so-much fame, talking about cross-species animal friendships, comes near the end, but the variety of segments offers something for all species of animal lovers (Isabella Rossellini being eccentric! The tear-inducing “War Horse” on Broadway! People, renowned and not, who love their lives through animals!)
Most of the July 17th show will appear here after this coming Sunday morning:
Sunday
First, though, please do have a look at—and consider supporting-- the good work done by the DuMond Conservancy, by exploring the links available here:
DuMond
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