Wish I Was a Nomad

One of my fondest childhood memories is the ritual of sitting down weekly (Sunday nights?) to watch Marlin Perkins narrate animal stories on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. I was really not much into either Nature or Animals as a kid - not at all, in fact - but this show was one of my favorites.

The show is still around. Last night I watched the most remarkable story of a lioness in Kenya with an 'unnatural' penchant for adopting orphaned oryx calves . The film just left me speechless. But, as is the case with pretty much all such stories, this one does not have a happy ending. For most of the calves, and for the lioness herself (who disappeared and hasn't been sighted in several years). And certainly not in my own heart. But still. Wow.

As with so many things in my world, i have a love/hate relationship with these sorts of nature shows, probably with Nature herself. I love learning, watching, observing, but there is always the inevitable sadness.