Piet MONDRIAN’s birthday was today, back in 1872 in Holland. He was a Modern Theorist, in the sense that he was trying to conceive of art as something beyond representation.
His investigations may look Simple, but they are another Version of Complexity, sort of a yin-yang idea of perception. Truth veiled by Truth.
Very Rhino, when you get right down to it. Yes but No but Yes but No but Yes.
Michaelangelo’s birthday seems special. Like all great works of art, the Artist transforms awareness of the universality, magnificence and complexity of Creation with his talents. His accomplishment glows with Inner Rhinoness.
Of course, if a Rhino had been wielding the chisel, the results might have been different, but Michaelangelo got there first. He was 21 when he got started on The David.
Rhinos were otherwise occupied in the early 1500s. Otherwise, who knows what We’d all be gaping at in Florence?
Sunshine is all very well, but a little relief is welcome, when We can get it. Even if We had parasols, they wouldn’t go far in shielding Us, even if We could carry them. Which We can’t.
So We depend on shrubbery or trees or rocks to provide Us with a Shadow. Shadows are Nature’s air conditioners.
Around midday, We all give up and relax until the sun gets a little less aggressive. Ah, Siesta!
Wherever We go, Nature is staging Weather in one form or another. Sometimes one thing, or sometimes another. Including Sumatra. Stimulating, all in all.
Fortunately for Us Rhinos, We roll with the punches.
Bedrich Smetana wrote The Bartered Bride back in 1870 or so, and that did big things for Czech opera. We are glad he took the trouble.
The story of this opera is fuzzy to Rhinos, but the folk-fervor of the music is tremendous. Makes Us want to wiggle.
Wiggling is always good, and keeps Us fit for our daily assignments, whatever they turn out to be.
Whatever it is, you Readers are probably aware that Rhinos are not high on the list of Leaping Critters.
We face this situation with no shame. We make an effort to be light on our feet, and let it go at that. When a Species is measured in tons, the results of leaping can be pretty amazing, a formula for Trouble.
We are of Good Cheer: tomorrow will be March. We think…
Hansel and Gretel is power-packed with highlight moments, of which one has to be the discovery of the Gingerbread House. Hansel and Gretel do their very best to polish it off.
A feature of this tale is that the reader does not need to be hungry at all to understand the children’s fervor. All critters know what it is to go crazy in the face of Temptation.
Nibble, nibble, little mouse, Who is gobbling up my house?
Home Ownership v. Enterprising Youth.
Hansel and Gretel’s #1 problem is, they are starving. In the Wild, sometimes there just are no roots and berries, nor anything else. It impairs any critter’s judgment. Even ours.
Rhinos never get lost in the woods, or anywhere, because 1) We can smell our way back to basecamp, and 2) We don’t fret much about where We are headed anyway. If We had breadcrumbs, We’d eat them. Duh.
Supposing Hansel and Gretel were Rhinos, they would have to be cousins or pals. By the time a sibling shows up, like 3 years, the difference in age is prohibitive to getting into trouble together. Rhino foolishness is age-specific.
Your Inner Rhino, unexpected lessons lurking, with more to come. You’re welcome.
Once upon a time in Germany, Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm famously started collecting folk tales. (Today is Wilhelm’s birthday, or it was, back in 1786.)
Clearly, many Grimm tales are based on Olde Rhino Stories, transformed for a human readership. The Very Absolutely Best Story Ever however is still Hansel and Gretel. Although everything in H&G is a perplexing distortion from a Rhino point of view, it has some haunting hold on Rhinoid awareness. Why, We cannot say.
Hansel and Gretel reverberates…
After some reconstructive lollygaggin’, the Staff is again in the office and ready to ride.
Buckeroos Unite! (And thank you for your patience.)
Your Inner Rhino 