What it was like in the Serengeti

Take a look at what National Geographic has put together about the Serengeti, where I was born.  Lion prides have nothing to shield us from the elements.  In rainstorms, we huddle together and lick the raindrops off each others' coats.  Click here to see more:  The Serengeti Lions.

How Bonnie and I got together

The original of this story is posted here.

Lion 30 : Words From A Wordsmith

Lion 30:

Roary.

Artist behind the lion:

Alain Pouillet (French painter).

Adoptive Owner:

Bonnie at Words From A Wordsmith.

Blog Description:

Bonnie Jacobs is the woman behind this blog, which is run in conjunction with a sister site: Bonnie's Books. This 67-year-old lives in Tennessee in the US and is obviously someone passionate about books and writing. Her sites, which appear to have been launched only five or six months ago, are teeming with wonderful titbits on the craft. The writing is warm and elegant.

Poem or piece of prose inspired by the lion:

I am lion, hear me roar
about things too big to ignore
'cause I'm tired of all the governmental lyin';
the whole world is going mad
and my writing's not too bad,
so I want to be a literary lion!

About the lion's name:

Bonnie says:

"I named him Roary because of his deep, magnificent roar. Hey, he's proud of that roar! The name seemed appropriate when I studied the 'screaming' faces below his feet and felt the power of his roar. Take a look at those faces around the lion's feet. They each resemble the person in the famous painting The Scream by Munch. What do you think? Does Roary need to roar for those 21 faces? Do they need his strength?

I looked up Roary's name online and now I'm wondering if I misspelled it. Under a different spelling (RUAIDHRÍ, pronounced ROR-ee), I found it means "red king" from Irish ruadh "red" combined with rí "king." This was the name of the last high king of Ireland, reigning in the 12th century. Roary is a king, so that fits, since lions are known to be kings. Red? Sometimes his fur looks slightly reddish, in the right light, but maybe there's another meaning. Red of tooth and nail, perhaps? Or tooth and claw, killing to survive on the African savannah."

Roary says:

"This is my version of the story: I let Bonnie think she named me, though I kept whispering "ROR-ee, ROR-ee" telepathically in her ear. I have adopted her version of the name because I don't care how she spells it. What I wanted was an opportunity to roar for justice.

Once upon a time in the land of Lyon, I was an unknown lion waiting for an artist. Taken in by Alain Pouillet, a French painter, I was transformed into the beautiful creature you see in the photo above. Inside my hide, I was still Roary the lion who wanted to roar about the injustice I see in the world. While protecting the people in agony below me, I felt helpless to do more, but I was nevertheless required to stand tall as people admired the artist's work on the canvas of my fur. It was months, nay years, before Bonnie stumbled upon my photo and felt we should become partners in a writing project. I would be able to ROAR like a lion!

When she discovered me, I was known simply as Lion #30. Now I am a literary lion, working with a published writer, ready to roar to protect people in need, like the persons represented by the faces on my pedestal. There are 21 of them, so I have convinced Bonnie to work with me to produce 21 roars: Roar #1 will appear soon on this blog, as soon as I decide where to start in the myriad problems confronting the world today. Wish me luck, fellow lions, and please feel free to suggest subjects for my roars."

11 comments:

L.M.Noonan said...

hi Bonnie and welcome to the pride. I like your helen reddy spoof. I also enjoyed the brief visit I paid to your blog and the greening a blue planet blog. I plan to visit again soon and get through the older posts

10 June 2007 17:33

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Oh, I'm SO glad someone recognized it as a spoof on Helen Reddy. I was halfway afraid her song had been too many years ago for most people to remember. Thanks for taking a look at my blogs, LMN; I'll come visit your blog today. Eventually, I want to visit and add all the writers of this writing circle to my bloglist.

11 June 2007 06:27

Minx said...

"Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the pride
But look how much I gained"....a whole load of liony friends!

13 June 2007 06:18

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Thanks, Minx, that's perfect!

14 June 2007 08:34

Bonnie Jacobs said...

With the addition of the lines Minx added to my poem, it seems to be GROWING instead of shrinking to fit within the 48 word limit. Seamus, let's just cut off the original "poem" after the words literary lion and let that be my "official" inspired writing about Roary. I think that puts me at 40 words, officially.

14 June 2007 12:35

Shameless said...

OK, Bonnie. Changes made.

16 June 2007 01:24

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Thanks, Seamus. Would you please take me off the list of folks who were breaking the rules? I feel like I'm standing in the corner for being naughty or something.

Things are shaping up nicely within our circle, and I am delighted!

16 June 2007 05:48

Shameless said...

Hi Bonnie, you're off the naughty list now. :) I'm also delighted with how things have developed ... lots and lots of great reading to be had here with all these amazing blogs. What talent there is out there.

16 June 2007 08:27

Bonnie Jacobs said...

How Roary got his name:

I named him Roary because of his deep, magnificent roar. Hey, he's proud of that roar! The name seemed appropriate when I studied the 'screaming' faces below his feet and felt the power of his roar. Take a look at those faces around the lion's feet. They each resemble the person in the famous painting The Scream by Munch. What do you think? Does Roary need to roar for those 21 faces? Do they need his strength?

I looked up Roary's name online and now I'm wondering if I misspelled it. Under a different spelling (RUAIDHRÍ, pronounced ROR-ee), I found it means "red king" from Irish ruadh "red" combined with rí "king." This was the name of the last high king of Ireland, reigning in the 12th century. Roary is a king, so that fits, since lions are known to be kings. Red? Sometimes his fur looks slightly reddish, in the right light, but maybe there's another meaning. Red of tooth and nail, perhaps? Or tooth and claw, killing to survive on the African savannah.

18 June 2007 06:45

Roary Lyon said...

This is my version of the story: I let Bonnie think she named me, though I kept whispering "ROR-ee, ROR-ee" telepathically in her ear. I have adopted her version of the name because I don't care how she spells it. What I wanted was an opportunity to roar for justice. Today I posted this on my blog : Roary, the Literary Lion of Lyon

Once upon a time in the land of Lyon, I was an unknown lion waiting for an artist. Taken in by Alain Pouillet, a French painter, I was transformed into the beautiful creature you see in the photo above. Inside my hide, I was still Roary the lion who wanted to roar about the injustice I see in the world. While protecting the people in agony below me, I felt helpless to do more, but I was nevertheless required to stand tall as people admired the artist's work on the canvas of my fur. It was months, nay years, before Bonnie stumbled upon my photo and felt we should become partners in a writing project. I would be able to ROAR like a lion!

When she discovered me, I was known simply as Lion #30. Now I am a literary lion, working with a published writer, ready to roar to protect people in need, like the persons represented by the faces on my pedestal. There are 21 of them, so I have convinced Bonnie to work with me to produce 21 roars: Roar #1 will appear soon on this blog, as soon as I decide where to start in the myriad problems confronting the world today. Wish me luck, fellow lions, and please feel free to suggest subjects for my roars.

20 June 2007 13:00

Roary Lyon said...

All of you are invited to visit my lion's den, The Literary Lion of Lyon. My mate Sophia has delivered our first cubs. Yes, twins!

Roary ^..^ we have two ^..^

19 July 2007 16:15

Bye, polar bear

Going ... going ...

gone. ....... Bi-polar bear? or bye-bye polar bear?

Invitation to "Tell us a story"

Do you like to tell stories?
Did you ever sit around a campfire listening to stories?
Bonnie (my writing partner) has started a new blog, one where folks will share stories.
Check it out:
Tell us a story.



I may have a go at it myself. I could share a ROAR or two.

Let's pause for a moment of silence, please

If I knew how to drape my blog in black, that's what I would do today. I've just read that the Caribbean monk seal has become extinct. What that really means, of course, is that "people" have just today confirmed that it's true. Do you want to know the really bad part? The AP article says, "Humans hunting the docile creatures for research, food and blubber left the population unsustainable." Extinction is forever, people! We aren't talking about the death of a single seal, but the death of a whole KIND of seal. The article goes on to say, "The last confirmed sighting of a Caribbean monk seal was in 1952 between Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula." And "the species is the only seal to become extinct from human causes." YOU did it, you people did it. I'm especially bothered by the list of reasons: "research, food, and blubber."

Oh, did I hear someone ask where I got this photo? It's an Hawaiian monk seal in this stock photo taken a decade ago, and there are only about 1,200 of them left. This species is declining at the rate of about 4% a year, according to NOAA, which protects them. When their numbers get below 1,000 in the next three or four years, they too will be among the most endangered marine species in the world. You researched them to death! I am so totally depressed that I can't talk to you anymore right now. I'm in mourning.

Didja hear about that parrot?

I know, I know, I've been away far too long. But nobody told me how much fun it would be to have cubs around the house, and I've been having fun with them. It took a parrot to bring me back to my blog. It was this parrot, whose name is Yosuke, now back home in his cage:

Lost parrot tells veterinarian his address

When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught — recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help. Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said. He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.

"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

"We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we've found Yosuke," Uemura said. The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years. But Yosuke apparently wasn't keen on opening up to police officials. "I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me," Uemura said. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

ROAR #3 ~ environmental damage

Today, October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to focus attention on one single issue: our damaged environment. Bloggers everywhere will post about the environment in their own way and, for me, that means another ROAR. The idea is to get all of us talking about a better future. If you want to know more about what others are doing, click on THIS LINK.

Let me share a couple of quotes from Daniel Quinn's book The Tales of Adam:

(1)
When the gods set out to make the universe, they said to themselves, "Let us make of it a manifestation of our unending abundance and a sign to be read by those who shall have eyes to read. Let us lavish care without stint on every thing: no less upon the most fragile blade of grass than upon the mightiest of stars, no less upon the gnat that sings for an hour than upon the mountain that stands for a millennium, no less upon a flake of mica than upon a river of gold. Let us make no two leaves the same from one branch to the next, no two branches the same from one tree to the next, no two trees the same from one land to the next, no two lands the same from one world to the next, no two worlds the same from one star to the next. In this way, the Law of Life will be plain to all who shall have eyes to read: the rabbit that creeps out to feed, the fox that lies in wait, the eagle that circles above, and the man who bends his bow to the sky."
And this was how it was done from first to last, no two things alike in all the mighty universe, no single thing made with less care than any other thing throughout generations of species more numerous than the stars. And those who had eyes to see read the sign and followed the Law of Life.

(2)
God is life in abundance wherever life is found, but not for all in every season. When the locusts thrive, the birds feast and the bison and the deer go hungry; still that place is as full of life as it was before and as full of life as it can be. No place where there is life is a desert, except to man.

I hope you humans wake up soon because you are ruining everything for us animals as well as yourselves. (I hope, I really hope, I'm not just roaring to myself here.)