Hold onto your hats, dear Readers: Today is the 3 thousandth posting from Your Inner Rhino! It may not have exactly the same impact as if We had an audio portion, featuring big bands and squeals of enthusiasm (one of our specialties.)

But We are pretty puffed up about it. Since We started in 2014, there have been 2,983 days, but we got to Three Thousand first. Our whole staff was younger in 2014, but We have trucked forward. We snort, We strut!

None of the above would have had much point were it not for YOU, our Readers. So We, (YIR & You) will plug on together. We rejoice.

Rhinos are not often called in to aid the troops in Jingle Bell season. Not now, not whenever either. We simply do not respond to the demands of the task with sensitivity, try as We may.

Rhinos have fine minds, but that does not translate into Every medium, every time.

No. And that is that.

We Rhinos have to pay close attention to the Vehicle We get around in. Things can go wrong, and road repairs are not dramatically unusual. Remedies for minor issues mostly involve deep breathing and diet. Or different friends.

Just one of those pauses that Nature suggests with varying degrees of vigor. Even BIG critters have to tune in.

It doesn’t seem quite fair to Us, but that, as every parent says, is just too bad. It is that sort of cold comfort that drives Rhinos to Philosophy.

Young Rhinos often have strange ideas about how Life in the Wild works. So how strange is it that adult Rhinos do too? No, not so very.

A popular cautionary tale for young Rhinos goes: Glaciers are very quiet, but they are faster than you might think. You mull something over, and when you turn around, a Glacier has snuck up on its way to greet its Destiny.

The best thing to do is to get out of its way. No Rhino has ever mentioned one of these confronations, but that does not mean thay never occurred.

Ah, the old problem of the Forest for the Trees… or the Tree from the Forest?

Wears a Rhino out, these seasonal conundrums.

Rhinos have to treat ourselves well, be selective in our dining goals, pay constant attention to good taste, both coming and going.

Otherwise, We can get testy, which is a memorable consequence of hunger.

Grumpy is not the recommended approach to mealtime, for Rhinos, or anybody else.

For a long time Rhinos spelled it “Xenthusiasm”. It meant the same thing then as it does now, though We no longer use the ‘X’, which was silent anyway.

Because Rhinos are an entusiastic family, it helps – losing that ‘X’. Now it takes less time to say it, even though We didn’t say it back when.

Enough said.

Examining the Past is easy, since there are clues all over the place, the leftovers, etc. Coming to terms with the Future is much trickier.

There have been many systems for forecasting, but none has yet proven foolproof. Still, it’s stimulating to consider the possibilities. It generally turns out to be a contest between pessimism and optimism, with a few facts tossed in… or selectively ignored.

It’s an exercise in Imagination, and no Rhino can resist that invitation, whether it achieves anything or not.

There is an old African adage: “Talk little, Listen carefully”.

Well, that just about wraps up that subjest, right?

Also, Practice does that too. If We want snowflakes on the tongue, We have to get into the rhythm of the exercise.

One problem is that where We Rhinos live, there is not a lot of snow. Up on mountain tops there may be snow, but no Rhino would go up there; We are insufficiently ept for such stunts. Altitude is not our friend.

But it is now December, when whatever Snow there is might show up. Preparation is the name of the game. Obviously.