Post-Election WIAW + November Challenge, Day 7

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

I'm really, really, ridiculously tired today: I made the poor choice to not stay up and watch election results, and instead I went to bed at 10:30...which then meant that I tossed and turned all night while stressing about it.  (Mental note to self: in 2016, I must stay up to monitor the results.)

Despite my night of lousy sleep, I hit the gym this morning for usual workout.  I knew I needed the exercise, but I didn't want to overdo it given the "I need an intravenous line of caffeine" levels of sleepiness -- so I shortened it up a bit: 

• 30 minutes on the elliptical
• 30 lunges with two 10-pound weights for the Girls Gone Sporty LungingForLeftovers challenge 
• 50 seconds of plank for Plank-a-Day

And now for What I Ate Wednesday -- the greatest cyber-potluck on the internets, hosted by the lovely Jenn from Peas&Crayons --  I'd like to present what I'm calling a bipartisan smoothie: it has some red (strawberries), some blue (blueberries), and some green (kale), so it represents a broad spectrum of the body politic.  Oh, and it's loaded with good-for-you nutrients - something we all need, regardless of political affiliation! 

This version has some plain nonfat Greek yogurt, since I've been craving the stuff like woah lately.  However, folks avoiding dairy can easily substitute soy, almond, or coconut-based yogurts.  (Side note: this picture was taken before I added the water!)

I was running late this morning and didn't get a picture of my lunch noms before leaving for work, but I had an apple with almond butter, lentil soup with broccoli, and a side of pineapple.

Oh, and coffee.  Lots and lots of coffee.

Dinner consisted of a home-made, organic, lean-cut burger with organic baby greens. Yes, I totally added some ketchup...so this wasn't exactly a fancy-pants meal. :)

And now, on to an update for Day 7 of the November Challenge:

Day 7: With apologies in advance for the fact that this is going to be quite a downer, today's challenge is for me to acknowledge that some losses hurt more than you'd logically expect them to.

Last month for Brandon's birthday, I got him a foster parent sponsorship for an orphaned baby elephant in Africa.  The foster program is part of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which rescues elephant calves that have been abandoned or orphaned due to poaching.  The Trust rehabilitates and socializes the calves for life in the wild, and the adult elephants are eventually released back into their natural habitat.

Our little guy, named Rukinga, was the youngest calf in the program.  He was rescued in September and was estimated to be only a few weeks old when his mother was poached.  He looked like a sweet and happy calf in all his pictures, and I was excited to be involved, even if only by proxy, in the care of this little elephant.

This morning, though, we got an email saying that he passed away.  

Apparently the teething process is a dangerous time for baby elephants, as it can cause fevers and diarrhea.  In the wild, it's less dangerous for the calf -- my guess is that there's something in the mother's milk that provides the electrolytes that they need to weather the diarrhea -- but in captivity, it's a much trickier time.

Despite having excellent veterinary care, our little Rukinga didn't make it.

And I'm really effing sad about it.

I fully acknowledge that it doesn't make sense for me to be this broken up about the loss of an animal who I never once saw in real life, and who I've even been aware of for about a month.

But that doesn't make me any less sad about it.  He'd beaten the odds by surviving the poaching that killed his mother, and he'd apparently been tenacious and determined in the wake of her death.  The Trust described him as an exuberant, happy, loving elephant, and I loved him from afar.

I often try to impose a regime of strict logic on myself and my feelings, but it almost never works.  So, my challenge for today is to give up on trying to Dr. Spock-ify myself and go with my emotions instead: I might have only become aware of Rukinga a month ago, and I might have never seen him in real life, but his death makes me really sad. 

We'll miss you, little guy.