After all that folderol of TFG’s arrest and all the blathering he and the rest of the GQP are doing, I think we need something light and fluffy.
Here ya go!
We are not even close to be out of the soup, not by a long shot, so take two small bears, a cuppycake, and some hot cocoa with little marshmallows, and call me in the morning.
Ever since I discovered that Mei Xiang and Lun Lun were half sisters, it opened up all sorts of story lines in the pandasphere. I know Aunty Mei loves her little nieces to death, bless their hearts!
If, like me, you are avoiding all mention of the debt ceiling hoo haa, there is no better distraction than pandas! Turn on the Panda Cam for the 245 hour a day loop!
So as I recall, PPJ showed up, poofed Frank, Mikey, Bikkie, and Pookie into a hot air balloon and off they went. Meanwhile, Josie finally found her way from Alaska to the Panda House at the National Zoo.
Okay! you are caught up.
Meanwhile, Friend to Bears Lucilla suggested that a gathering of pandas to say farewell to Ya Ya as she returns to China would be a fun thing. I immediately pounced (like a cat!) on this as a way to wrap up a story that seemed (like a hot air balloon) to be drifting aimlessly on the breeze.
Maybe don’t stand right under the balloon?
Be the Bear! Bob T I bet somebody is gonna get grounded Panda
Sadly, we are destined to be a country without pandas in the next year or two. San Diego’s pandas were sent to China in 2019, and the pandemic, not to mention TFG’s crappy stances on China meant we weren’t going to get a new panda loan agreement any time soon. Noted panda writer Henry Nicholls wrote an opinion piece for CNN about our addiction to domesticated pandas. That might not be quite how he put it, but he does have a point.
Pandas in the wild are different animals, and now it appears there may be some genetic difference between pandas that live in the wild and pandas that grew up on the all you can eat cruise ship model. “Pandas are solitary? Who knew?!!!!” said a group of pandas sitting around the table chowing down on boo shoots while playing Mah Jong.
Any way, now Ya Ya is on her way back to Beijing, alas without Le Le who succumbed to a previously undiagnosed heart ailment.
Could story lines collide soon? I guess we’ll find out.
Stay tuned for further developments!
Be the Bear! Bob T pass the endless boo buffet Panda
If you haven’t read Henry Nicholls’ The Way of the Panda, you should fix that immediately. It’s a great book about all things pandas, the politics of pandas, and there is a cameo appearance of a ‘toon that was perhaps done by your favorite practitioner of panda satire! My literary claim to fame!
I’m sorry to leave the bears upon in the air, but there has been so much going on! I hope this will fill in a narrative gap or two. (While I figure out what is going to happen next, and take care of a few other things!)
Bears will be bears!
Be the Bear Bob T bears behaving badly Panda
BTW I have a new rant on Substack this week! Check it out!