Saturday, March 18, 2017

Sustainable Saturday - April, Allysa, Animal Support Animals and Snow

It's been an interesting week in the Southern Tier of upstate New York.

At Animal Adventure Park, in nearby Harpursville (about 30 minutes from where I live), a pregnant giraffe, April, continues to attract hundreds of thousands of daily views to her You Tube page.  Meanwhile, both the best and worst in human nature continues to appear in live chats and comments on the park's Facebook page.

I'm watching as I write this blog post, along with about 102,000 other people.  Just think, a reticulated giraffe could unite this country. But, after she gives birth, will anyone pay attention anymore? That remains to be seen.

Around 9pm Eastern Daylight Time each night, you can see one of the park employees coming in and interacting with the giraffes.  My personal favorite is a woman by the name of Allysa.  The interaction between Allysa and April is so heartwarming, as Allysa feeds April romaine lettuce and carrots, and will then give April a quick external exam, a belly rub, and belly kisses.  Upwards of 130,000 or more people will watch that tender moment.

So, why are so many people obsessed (and I do mean, for some, obsessed) with April? Forbes Magazine had an interesting take on the situation - April could be, for some, a virtual emotional support animal. Call it, if you will, virtual animal therapy to relieve stress and anxiety, something many of us are experiencing right now.  Read the article at the link to find out more about emotional support animals.

Meanwhile, Animal Adventure continues to dig out of the snow we all received in this area earlier in the week.  For my readers who live in areas that don't get much, if any, snow, here are some more pictures for you.

Broome County Courthouse (downtown Binghamton, New York) and the moon, March 16, shortly after sunrise.

A downtown Binghamton, New York street the afternoon of March 17.  Yes, after a day or so, snow doesn't look as pretty as it once did.
An area house.  Looks so peaceful, doesn't it?  Those lumps on either side of the small porch are buried bushes.

Happy Saturday, wherever you live.

4 comments:

  1. Yes, I've been following the April story. She needs to give birth soon!

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  2. What a cool story. I think that I saw the giraffe on the news. Oh, and definitely the snow is not as pretty just a few days after it came down. Let's hope that we have spring soon, seeing that the vernal equinox is in just a few days.

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  3. Interesting rambling depiction of April. Unfortunately, I expect the interest will dissipate along with the snow. But at least your blog has captured the moment.

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  4. Yes, thanks for the snow pics.

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