It's been a long winter

So. It was a Sunday morning. February 27, to be precise. For us northerners, a dangerous time of the year. There is not a single residue of that heart-stopping joy we can get from the first snowfall. Snow just means more cold, more dark, more ice, and spring a long way off.

And there I am, staring bleakly at the computer screen while Scott's making the traditional Sunday morning popovers, when up on the advertising bar in my gmail account comes this ad, or something very like it (I can't find it anymore): Volunteer work with elephants in Cambodia.

Hmmmmm. Worth a click. So what do I find but this Globalteer site, a British charity, where one is able to go, among other places, to Cambodia, to help care for abused and neglected elephants. Now, you must realize that I have never had a yearning to go to Southeast Asia. I am of the age where the mere words "Southeast Asia" means WAR to me, a place where husband and brothers were unfortunate to find themselves in the 60's and 70's and fortunate enough to get out alive.

I like elephants. Of course, I like all animals, but elephants have always seemed quite appealing to me. Not the centerpiece of my life, mind you, but appealing.

The website is wonderful. Check it out!

Casually I say to Scott, "I'd love to do something like this." And he says, "Why don't you?"

Well, that's a show stopper. Yes, why DON'T I? He makes an ungenerous reference to my age by saying "If you don't do it now, when WILL you do it?" Obviously, generous or not, he's right.

It appeals to me that you have to APPLY to volunteer for this charity, that you have to PAY to work for them.

And so I applied, and with hands clammy and heart thumping, I punched "send."