No matter where we go, animals gravitate toward Liz. Stray dogs, feral pigs, even schools of fish 100 feet underwater. Sometimes it's as if she's a cross between Ace Ventura Pet Detective and Steve Carrell in Evan Almighty, except way better looking (says Kip).
Which is why going anywhere with her can take hours extra if any type of animal is within a quarter mile of us. Why should the trail up to Mt. Everest be any different?
We struggle uphill past a mule loaded with 100 kilos of rice, and Liz stops ten minutes to scratch his head. She sees an emaciated dog reeking of yak dung and she walks over and gives the smelly pooch a hug. And of course, the animals love it, costing us even more time.
Here are just a few examples of the countless Liz-caused delays cleverly disguised as animal encounters that we've already experienced on the trail so far.
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| Yet another puppy-caused "delay." |
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| We called this horse Tina Turner because of her hair. |
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| A baby goat or "goatling," as Liz called him, asked Liz to scratch his tiny horns. |
Kip finally gave up and tried out a friendly "Liz style" hello to a baby yak. As noted in the photo, the yak was not amused.
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| This young yak wants to know where Liz is. |
What a gentle soul Liz is! One of my prayers has always been "Dear God, please help me be the person my dog thinks I am." Looks like Liz is well on her way! xo
ReplyDeleteThanks Dawn! Not sure if it was my "gentle soul" or the fact that I hadn't showered for a week that attracts them :) And love that prayer. So true!
DeleteAnimals seem to be more prevalent in Asia and Liz seems to have a way of soothing them; maybe something to do with her own mate. Anyway, my wife Paula says she must have one of those blue caps Liz is sporting.
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