Rain!

It was raining most of today, so I just took a quick blip of this leaf in a puddle in the car park at the "Y" when I went swimming.

A bizarre and tragic story in the news today from Zanesville in east central Ohio. It began yesterday evening, when sheriff deputies arrived at a notorious wild animal preserve in Zanesville, Ohio, to find the owner dead, and Bengal tigers, lions, bears and other ferocious animals wandering away, some headed for the highway. It seems as if the owner had opened the gates and pens and then committed suicide. With darkness coming on, and fearing for the safety of the town, the sheriffs were forced to start killing the animals. The final count was 49 animals slaughtered, including 18 Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, a pair of grizzlies, three mountain lions, two wolves and a baboon. Six other animals - a grizzly bear, three leopards and two monkeys --were still in their cages and were taken to the Columbus Zoo. Supposedly they were "rescue" animals, but still, how does one person acquire all those animals in the first place?! Apparently he's faced various accusations of animal abuse in the past. Fortunately, new state laws are going to be passed soon, bringing in stricter regulations to cover these sort of situations. What a tragic waste of magnificent animals - particularly so many Bengal tigers when they are on the verge of extinction.

One year ago: Carpet of leaves