THE HOLIDAY SECRET

Today was the day! I got up early, popped in a Christmas CD and started to scrub, polish and sweep the house. It’s my annual after Thanksgiving house cleaning campaign. All the Thanksgiving decorations are down and packed away and the Christmas boxes are waiting! Once the floor dries, I’ll put up the tree, and then we’ll decorate, a little at a time, all night long. Tomorrow the elf village, Lladro Nativity and the “It’s a Wonderful Life” village will go up. By Monday, I’ll have the lighted holly garland up on the china cabinet and across the kitchen counters. My Whoville Christmas tree with a stuffed Grinch and his dog will fill my shelf over the refrigerator and my Precious Moments Christmas figurines will go on the shelf between the kitchen and living room. Little by little, every room in the house will be filled with Christmas cheer! My husband will put the lights up outside in his own good time. (I’ve learned not to nag or cajole.) The real Maine wreath will arrive on December 6^th, Sinterclaas Day, and our house will be complete!

Then the baking starts! Several kinds of cookies (candy cane cookies, German Christmas cookies, Ricotta cookies, sugar, chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies to start). Of course I’ll be baking my famous Whiskey Cakes, but hopefully this year I won’t set the kitchen on fire! ( http://delayedreactionlounge.blogspot.com/2011/04/fire-fiasco.html)

I also make pistachio cakes for the neighbors and decorate them with sprigs of holly and poinsettia flowers. There’s nothing like the smell of fresh baked goods to set the mood for the holiday season!

I always have all my gifts bought way before Christmas, but now it’s time to start wrapping them! One year I thought I was smart and wrapped them as I bought them, but the tags fell off and I had to open each one to see what it was and who it was for. So let the wrapping begin! (I have to admit I do some cheating, I send fruit to the relatives up north and wreaths to the relatives down south.) I bought my Christmas wrap the day after Christmas last year, so I have plenty to choose from this year!

The final , dreaded job for Christmas is writing and mailing the Christmas cards. Don’t get me wrong, I love all my friends and relatives near and far. I love hearing from them, seeing pictures of their kids and reading family newsletters. I just hate writing mine out! I feel I have to put a personal note in them or people will think I don’t care, and it takes me forever!

MEET PONGO AND JOIN DRL'S TEAM TO HELP HIM AND THE CENTER FOR GREAT APES

Marion Pellicano Ambrose



Pongo is a cutie, don't you think?



Pongo is a handsome adult male orangutan whose cheek pads (also called flanges) have grown quickly as he has matured.  He started his life as an infant at a tourist attraction and was the first ape to be cared for at the sanctuary.

When he was nearly eight years old, Pongo was moved to his permanent sanctuary home in Wauchula where he has met and lived with three other orangutans, Christopher, Mari, and Pebbles.  Now that they are adults, Pongo still has a few play dates with Christopher, but like typical territorial male orangutans they sometimes compete for the attention of the females, Mari and Pebbles.  Currently Pongo lives full time with Mari.  They spend their days traveling through the forest woods in the elevated tunnel chute system or hanging around in their 35-foot tall habitat with large cypress-tree climbing structures. 

The orangutans have a wide variety of play materials including barrels, culverts, tires, fire hose swings, barge-rope vines, giant rubber tubs for pools, as well as more naturalistic toys such as tree branches, banana leaves, palm fronds, coconuts, bamboo poles, and sand piles.  Pongo has always liked playing in water and when he was younger, he used to drag one of his big tubs over to his drinking spigot and fill it with water to splash in.

But, now as a fully-developed adult male, Pongo has become more subdued in his play behavior.  He spends much more time alone watching the goings-on at the sanctuary from inside a large culvert, or from behind a shady tree in the overhead tunnels.  Pongo takes his blankets to make a nest inside his night house each night… but occasionally he likes to sleep outside.   The long, red hair on his back and arms has grown to nearly three feet and is extraordinarily beautiful.   

His favorite foods are spinach, Romaine lettuce, bananas, jakfruit, and butternut squash.  He absolutely HATES any foods with flour like crackers, bread, cookies, and pretzels.

The Center for Great Apes provides care with dignity in a safe, healthy, and enriching environment for great apes in need of lifetime care.  The annual cost for the care of one ape housed at the sanctuary is over $20,000.  The Center is home to 43 great apes and all the support for their care comes from members, individual donors, and grants from animal foundations.  The Center does not receive any government funding.

     Delayed Reaction Lounge has formed a Guardian  Team to help Pongo. Our goal is to raise $2,000 by his birthday on August 16^th. If you would like to join our team and make  a donation to help Pongo, visit the link below and look for the Delayed Reaction Lounge Team.

“Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.”  ~Albert Schweitzer

https://bos.etapestry.com/fundraiser/CenterforGreatApes/pongo/donate.do