Thursday, February 2, 2012

A Zoo in San Dimas



This past Tuesday evening, ten members of Coffee House Writers Group gathered at Rick’s place.  It was only 15 minutes by bicycle to his house, and I knew some families in San Dimas live in a large lot with horses, but still I was pleasantly surprised.  It was a great meeting and unusual treat.  

When I get there, first I see two dogs and one of them looks a little like wolf.  Sure enough, Rick says they are part wolf!  I stopped petting, but they are very friendly and excited.  Soon, the wolf looking dog starts to howl as above photo. 

As I’m writing this, I just noticed something.  “Howl” in Japanese is ほえるhoeru, and “howl” is transcribed into Japanese as ハウルhauru.  Wow, hauru and hoeru sound similar.  What do you think?  I know you are not as excited as I am.  Too bad.







In Japanese, "a beautiful woman" can be translated to bijin 美人.  Bi means beautiful, and jin means person.  But we don’t have a word such as biba 美馬 (ba means horse).  I wonder what word Chinese use for a beautiful horse.  Wait, I forget to ask Rick.  I don't know the gender of any of these animals.  Excuse me if I'm wrong.








the white of eyes
zooms into mine more and more 
yoga of love





Her name is Tess, and yoga means connection.  So far I’ve seen five dogs, three horses, chickens, turtles, fish, and a giant python, and thinking for a person like me who own not even a dog must have a hard time maintaining this kind of household.  One thing, I’m not a morning person.






This is Penny.  She is a 400 lbs. black pig.    Rick throws a banana into Penny’s large pan without peeling it.  Right away, Penny eats it all up.  You might say she is a pig, but when we are not used to, we don’t know how to handle.  It’s the same as among humans.  Some people don’t know what to do with me!? 




Below, we can see her tail. 




Also, this is only natural, but Penny does not have her waist.  This photo shows her shining black body, but we can’t tell which side is which. 




This dog looks curious and keeps coming back.  He or she must be saying to me to take a photo and upload it to my blog, so I’m trying my best to suit her needs. 






This is the other mustang.  Excuse me for the rear view. 






This hand belongs to Jessica, the daughter of Christine Marie Bryant who is the leader of Coffee House Writers Group.  Jessica tells me that horses do not like flash, so I try to stop, but I can’t control my camera well.  According to Rick’s wife, the mustang below has allergy.  My eyes have also been itchy, but I can’t wear an eye mask.  




I wish she waits for my shot, but she turns around.


There are two similar looking dogs, so she could be the same dog as above.  I'm unsure. 




The battery of my camera has been very low, and I realized that flash is probably not good also for reptiles.  So, I haven’t taken many photos of amazing pythons.  By the way, this is a baby python.  Rick’s daughter shows us many different kinds and explains to us in detail.  She has a pregnant python ready to give birth to seven or eight eggs.  If you are a reptile mania, you’ll be ecstatic.  It’s a conflict, but I’m sorry I’m not, or I’m glad I’m not. 




By the way, the cross is not chopsticks.


4 comments:

Rebb said...

Keiko,

What a fun visit. Your photos are great. I especially love the close up of the dog--gorgeous. Horses are such sweet, sensitive looking creatures.

Yes those sounds are similar. When I pay attention to my mouth shape, hoeru makes O shape and hauru makes a shape like I'm going to yawn.

My childhood dog who was a golden retriever Irish setter mix used to howl at the moon at night. I would hear him, go outside, careful that he didn't hear me, and there he was on the side of the house sitting comfortably on the lawn pointing toward the moon, howling. What a beautiful sight.

keiko amano said...

Rebb,

I read somewhere that golden retriever is the strongest among dogs, not pit bull or other fighter-looking dogs. When hoeru and howl were at origin, all the dogs and wolves were probably one, too. And humans and wolves made O and shout to the moon to come down, but the moon was already O, so she won.

Rebb said...

Keiko, I didn't realize that about Golden retrievers. I like your story about the moon. I see images in a short children's picture book in my head. I could just see the children listening and learning about the moon. Last night was full moon--it woke me up because it was like a bright lamp outside my window. I looked up for a small moment gazing, smiled, and went back to sleep.

keiko amano said...

Rebb,

And you didn't howl?!

This reminds me why I enjoy hot spring bath outside looking at the moon. I go there often while in Japan, not just bathing but for relaxation. I lie down and look at the moon.