Today is Asian Elephant Day at the zoo. It’s Ambika’s 60th birthday and she really wants to celebrate with you, so don’t disappoint her.

Representatives from the Sri Lankan embassy will be on hand, and Sri Lankan dancers will perform traditional dances every half hour between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Shanthi, Kandula’s mother, was born in Sri Lanka. Elephants are an important part of Sri Lankan culture, though fewer than 5,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild in Sri Lanka.

Husband is thrilled that we’re getting up early to go to a donor’s breakfast and tour of the planned Elephant Trails area. Husband loves getting up early. (We aren’t climbing a fence or anything, we were invited). I wasn’t well enough to attend Brew at the Zoo (which benefitted the elephants), but this more than makes up for it.