Trunks up :)

Even though I had this majestically amazing dream about an all white koi fish (if anyone knows what this means please help :), I want to talk about my favorite animal the elephant.

My great-grandmother, Mum Mum used to believe that a statue of an elephant must have it’s trunk up. This was due to her belief that the truck being up was symbolic of showering good luck. Looking this idea up online I found that she shared this belief with many other Americans, though there is no known origin for the belief. Regardless, Mum Mum was and still is a person I greatly admired, actually beyond all others. Even though I barely spent much time with her before she pasted and maybe that is even more the reason, I hold her and this belief of hers dear to my heart. She seems to be a constant inspiration for me in every facet of my life, art and otherwise. 

I wrote this for her a while back:

“Madeline was my great-grandmother, my past, my soul. She was the only one I’ve known to truly care about everyone. I don’t just know that because she is gone now and I can speak for her. I know because with every cool wind and rustle of leaves, I feel her. When every night my sleepy lids lower, I feel a kiss of each, a hand to cheek. With every twirl of her rings around my fingers, every reflected tear in my glasses, she’s with me still. Her care lives beyond me and with me and because of me. I dream of sailing with her under starlight, the moon’s glow drizzling life into waves. I still write for her. I only write for her. I know how proud she’d be. I do believe it is the best things in life that do not last. It seems to be natures way of keeping us humble to existence and not spoiling us. And though I only have her in spirit and memory, I have her.”

Because of her great importance to me and my life, I too have become sort of infatuated with elephants. Not only are they cute, but they are so caring and kind that they have been known to sacrifice themselves for others and not just of their own species, but humans and other animal species as well. Not to mention they can literally die from a broken heart! I <3 them.

Here's Mum Mum and some of my elephants (trunks up :)

jfate