True, it takes some Optimism (and some Patience) to see how things come together. Still, they do, no matter what We had planned.
When We get willing to go with what is, rather than how We imagined it would be, We come out with something pretty satisfying, all the same.
Puzzling, yes?
Here you see a Javan Rhino, moving hastily though the brush. This branch of the family is at an existential crossroads, and things do not look promising.
Closely related to the Indian One-horn Rhino branch, the remnants of our line live in the tropical jungles of Java. Our range used to be all over Southeast Asia, but no longer. We have interesting skin, pebbly but not as knobby as our Indian cousins. How did We get to Java?, you might ask. In times past, the ocean level was lower, so We could stroll. Rhinos are accomplished strollers. (see 4/11/15)
Many female Javan Rhinos don’t grow a horn at all. Nature might give a convincing explanation of why that is, but not We.
For obvious reasons, Javan Rhinos are extremely leery of contact with the public.
It has come to our attention that Your Inner Rhino has not been very clear about what parts of the greater Rhino Family are presently represented on the planet. Seems obvious as a topic, but it does not hold our attention to any great extent; We are all Rhinos, We have RhinoHeart, and that’s what counts.
That Said, here you go! Here We have a Sumatran Rhino, the hairiest of the Gang. We live in Southeast Asia, mostly solitary and living in dense jungle. We can weigh a ton, but are the smallest Rhino species. We are surprisingly agile, and are known for a sharp sense of humor. Two horns, but modest.
We are the most ancient lineage of the RFamily living today. We are few in numbers, due to hunting and habitat pressures.
The reason this all seems a bit beside the point is that each Rhino, Sumatran or not, is an individual critter, doing our best to thrive. Seems more important than a label, at least to Us.
Today begins the Festival of Obon, a Buddhist recognition of ancestry, honoring family members gone before.
We at Your Inner Rhino are keenly aware of our own heritage, and think it is a good thing to set aside time to be grateful.
We are reposting a picture from October 22, 2014, just to remind you of how many Rhino family members there are, millions and millions and millions of years worth. No member of the family makes, or has made, a lesser contribution than another. Each of Us is a novel version of a long chain of predecessors.
Rhinos are lucky indeed. And grateful.
Rhinos are seldom caught up in arguments about appearance. Why would We be? Rhinos are Impressive beyond question.
Is there an ideal to which We would aspire? None that Nature has not addressed in our creation, right? Appearance seems entirely beside the point.
To the extent We understand Vanity, it seems an expression of insecurity and generalized hostility. Maybe We don’t grasp the subtleties of hoping to impress anyone with our exterior.
We can’t know Everything.
Sand castles are mighty fine, and Rhinos greatly enjoy architecting them. Add a spire here, a drawbridge there, and moat yourself silly. What can hold Us back?
The precluding issue might be that We do not live near the sea, most of Us. So We have to do our sand-castling in theory, rather than sand itself. We are not daunted however; We just proceed.
Piddling limitations do not affect Rhino Good Times.
is a rose. Not surprisingly, the same thing is true for watermelons. Clearly. This is what is known as Common Sense, information on which everyone agrees.
We would point out that most Common Sense proceeds without investigation or conscious attention. We just know things and leave them to their own devices. Why fuss?
Every now and again Rhinos like to review the elements of what is commonly known, just to see if things have changed. They almost invariably have. Then uncommon knowledge is factored into the mix.
We are brilliant.
We will be back in business in the twinkle of an eye, more or less.
Justice is supposed to deal with things in an evenhanded way, hence the blindfold. The problem for Rhinos would be that We can smell a rat at any distance, so our noses would need to be stopped, plus our hearing is fiendishly outstanding. We are four-legged lie detectors. All in all, Rhinos are fine judges of culpability, but not the ideal arbiters of the legal profession. Too insightful.
Also, We tend to be short-tempered with courtroom shenanigans.
Yet imaginary dress-up never loses its appeal.
Sometimes it isn’t easy to realize or remember that the thing under our scrutiny is part of a great something which isn’t the tree.
The not-tree part.
Rhinos have to stay alert for these ambiguities. It pays off in the long run. Ask anybody.
Your Inner Rhino 