Tshukudu

Tshukudu (chew-coo-do), which means "rhino" in Sotho (sue-too) is also the name of THE BEST BUSH LODGE in South Africa. All meals and drinks (to include open bar) are included, as well as morning and afternoon private game drives in Pilanesburg National Park. The accommodations are five star, the game are the Big 5, and I give it 5 thumbs up!!! Go and be spoiled.

Edit, then Edit Some More

More is less (more or less), it would seem, according to “Timely letters welcome” policy displayed daily on the Opinion page. Among the directions for Letters to the Editor submissions are the following: “Letters will be edited. Letters should be 200 words or less….” Yet, on the very same day – April 30 – three of the five published letters exceeded the “200 words or less” policy (one with 211, the second with 215, and the third with a whopping 218). So, The State, which is it going to be? Edited letters or no word limit? Ok, maybe you did whittle down those three letters from a combined 3,000 words or so, but why not go ahead and leave the other 44 on the shavings heap as well? If you’re counting, there are 132 words in this letter so far – counting the first “132” as the 132nd word, of course, but who really knows if this letter has been edited before it’s read, and my 132-word count (now up to 169) was really 247 or thereabouts? And does “132-word count” count as two or three words? I’m betting only two, so I am able to get one crucial extra word in: 200.

Happy Days No More

We just lost the best dog that ever lived - best because he was ours and we here his. No disputing that. He's gone now, and sadness will rule for quite a while:

No, no, no life!

Why should a[nother] dog, a horse, a rat, have life,

And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,

Never, never, never, never, never! - - Shakespeare

But sadness will turn to good memories of the happy days with Happy Boy -- and sooner than we think. He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.) When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever - in case I need him. And I expect I will - as I always have. He is just my dog. - - Gene Hill

Goodbye, Happy Boy -- and thanks for everything.