Victoria Yeager

I love elephants – could watch them all day. I got to ride them again and feed them in Africa this month.

It was pretty hard getting on Duma – very wide back and nothing to hold onto.

General Yeager very wisely declined to ride ’em.

Does riding this elephant make me look fat?

Glad I was on top of the elephant:

Notice Gen Yeager keeps one hand on the elephant – one never knows.

Next we fed them:

First time I ever rode an elephant was on my 11th birthday. We had a great birthday party: 1st the Barclay Hotel for lunch on Rittenhouse Square in Philadephia. Small world information: Pancho Barnes’ family owned that hotel at one point!

Dessert was Mario’s ice cream, the hotel’s special not on the menu, which was vanilla ice cream, strawberries, small macaroons, and I’m not sure what else along with Italian cream cake, my father’s favorite.

One of the stories – they brought the finger bowls – warm water with lemon – to cleanse one’s hands. Social history. One of the girls, age 11, who used to try to rise above us with stories about high society and dining at the Barclay, was busted. She didn’t know what the finger bowl was so started sipping it which caused great mirth from the rest of us.

After this, we went to the circus at the Spectrum. What great fun! But it wasn’t finished. After the circus, there was a carnival in the huge parking lot. So we went on the Zipper which flipped in three ways – three of us, laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe. The others were too afraid to go.

Then we all rode the elephants – about four of us at a time!

One gal had to go home, so Dad drove her home while Mom stood guard as we rode the Zipper.

I remember looking out at the billboards which said: “SEE FROG BOY” and had a picture of a boy squatting like a frog with a face similar to a frog – and all greenish. Just pay – I don’t remember how much – to go in the building to see him.

Mom said we couldn’t go see this “creature”. It was probably a kid who had features resembling a frog and it wasn’t nice to go gawk. Of course, one of the kids had a future as a salesperson – she argued that at least they were making money and how else could poor frog boy make money. And at school some of the kids gawked at others’ shoes, for instance, and the shoe-wearer didn’t make any money. Mom wasn’t buying the argument.

And we didn’t go see frog boy. But clearly the billboard made quite an impression on me as I still remember it 44 years later – seemed unseemly to pay and gawk. Still does.

When my Dad returned, we all piled into the car, his 1949 cadillac convertible – very elegant, classy car. Dad dropped off each of the girls. The last one,FB, he asked, “Where do you live?”

She replied confidently: Next to the Hendersons.

My father waited….and waited…and then said with as straight a face as he could muster: And where do the Hendersons live?

She wasn’t sure. (Next to her

We ultimately found it.

The next time I rode an elephant was over a couple decades later in Laos. On Asian elephants often they put a very comfortable seating platform. It was about a 2 hour ride so I’m glad they did. Great way to see the countryside.

Then in Zimbabwe about 14 years ago. That was fun. I got to ride by myself. Can’t imagine if it had run away with me – that’s happened many, many times on horses in all sorts of places all over the world.

And then a few weeks ago. In Southern Africa.

Yup. I like elephants.

Maybe I was an elephant in my last life. Or not. Mom always used to say, when I was a kid, that I walked loudly like an elephant. (She clearly had not studied elephants – they are pretty darn quiet when they walk – amazing!). She wanted me to be like a ballerina which elephants are sometimes funnily enough – very graceful creatures when they want to be.

Besides, “loudly”, unless you’re stalking or hiding, is good in the bush sometimes – to scare away the snakes, etc. We saw a puff adder 10 yards away a few days later – not something I’d like to see up close and coiled, staring at me.

Duma was making sure he got the last drop:

Th-th-th-th-that’s all, folks!

c. GCYI