Elvis

This is Elvis, a Bactrian camel. He lives at the zoo. I took this picture on an incredibly freezing day when there were were only a handful of visitors I encountered on my walk. Actually, I bypassed this exhibit because there was some strange perv-looking guy leaning on the fence watching me as I passed by. When the man left, out of my peripheral vision, I could see the camel watching me as if to say, "Hey, quit looking at those stupid zebras. Come over and take my picture." So I did.

"Do not free the camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel." ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

To which his response was to perform this odd pose captured in the photo below...I hope it wasn't some nasty mating pose or something!

This entry is in memory of my mother who died six months ago. In her pre-cancer days, her walking group would meet and walk around the zoo. I remember her telling me the story about when she learned of Elvis' name. Almost like a child recounting a school field trip to the zoo. After that day, she would go say hi to him whenever she was at the zoo. In fact, she would ask me if I saw Elvis whenever I would tell her that I went to the zoo...and since nobody else was around when I took this picture, I did say hi to him.