Page 12 - It's a Rum Life Book One "In the Beginning 1947 to 1960"
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deterred and all the time my father and the keeper seemed
dumbfounded. If not a little amused.
Amusement was not one of the things my Mother was
renowned for, particularly at her expense. This I well remember
from experience of years to come.
The elephant by now was being belaboured by a handbag of
large proportions but an elephant’s trunk as most will know is a
very large, flexible and muscular instrument.
If I stop at this moment and reflect on why this happened.
After half my lifetime now has been spent in close daily
contact with large animals I am well aware of what excites most
male mammals. It’s a female and they don’t have to be of the
same species! Add to this the honeymoon catalyst and hey
presto we have a situation that would excite any hot blooded
male!
The incident was not mentioned in Mother's hearing ever
after. But for the rest of the family it was a subject of much
mirth for years and years.
To jump forward for just a moment or two, there was a
further visit to London which I enjoyed rather more. To the
“Festival of Britain” in 1951. This is one time when I wish I could
travel back with the brilliant Olympus OM one and OM two
cameras that became my passion in the mid 1980’s.
WHICH FAMILY
Readers may think it odd that I do not list all the family
members in the order you would imagine they ‘appear’. I think it
more interesting to actually mention them in the approximate
order they became known to me. The exception is the following,
taken completely out of context, as you need to know these
facts to understand better the complexities I have had to live
with.
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