"KAPUT"

"Kaput" is the word the old Namibian resident medicine man said to me as he waved his hand in front of his throat signifying "the end".  It was the signal that a zebra foal had given me  her last breath of life.  For you see, her mama was accidentally killed and she was orphaned at only a few weeks of age.  She had managed to fare for herself but you could tell her body score was low and her digestion was off.

The PH took her back to the farmhouse.  After scrounging around the compound, I found a baster (I could not find a baby bottle) and made up some electrolytes, sugar and water to give to her but it was to no avail.  She was too weak and frightened.  She succumbed in my arms on that lonely fall morning in July of 2008.  I cried as if my heart would break, I was inconsolable.  That day has haunted me, for her size so reminded me of the crias playing in our front pasture here in Georgia..  I am way too tender-hearted to be a livestock manager, but that is what I do!

My husband, bless his heart, made arrangements for her to be brought to the USA to be prepared as if she were in her normal setting, alive and full of zeal.  The taxidermist ( Wilderness Taxidermy, Franklin, NC) did a superb job.  Kaput, as we named her, is in our den and is in a  very robust demeanor that a zebra can ever be. I had collected baggies of red desert sand every where I went over the last eight visits to Africa and the artist was able to take that sand and adhere it to the base over the papier machie'
You see, I know that every living thing has an inner part that  God designed.  When the life of a being is over, that spirit has a place. Sometimes we humans are so locked up that only God knows our inner being.
Reflect back on a previous post I wrote of the role of the human in the balance of wild life.  That post was a preface to this story so you would understand. Here again we played an integral role in one of God's precious beings.

Feel free to pass these writings along to a friend who might would like to read them.

Today has been a day of reflecting and planning.
Bought the heirloom tomatoes for the pots on the deck.
Prayers offered to Charlotte, for her Daddy passed on Sunday AM
Prayers for Mrs. Peeples, my in-law counterpart in Anniston, AL. May she find comfort and peace.
Hugs to Carrie and Craig.
And to William and Heather; hope your bond was strengthened and fun today.
A few more precious stones to add.......