With the assignment to write about Animal experiences I feel limited.

I did raise chickens and gathered the eggs. I rode my uncle Hiram's horses and plowed several furrows for sowing grain, milked cows, was chased by turkeys, never had a dog until the Shikles Six came into being. We had a dog named "Sandy" killed by a car one Christmas morning. Our second dog was wonderful -named "Jo-Jo". She was a jewel for our family. For 16 years each member felt a strong relationship with her. I remember her having a cuddly litter of puppies, which our children sold. I encouraged them each to pay a tithe from their sales in their Sunday School offering.

When I was a grandfather and four grandchildren were getting new puppies, Carol and I purchased "Sheba". She was a blackcoat Golden Retriever. What a wonderful companion she became to me. Her ashes are on Pike's Peak where I hope my ashes will be buried some day.

Now, Carol and I have touched animals around the world: we rode donkeys and camels in Egypt, elephants in Assam and we were carried in push-carts pulled by donkeys in India.

But last week was unique for me. I saw the largest animal on our planet feeding in the water a short distance from where I live. I went "Whale Watching". Nine of my fellow classmates and I had a delightful experience seeing "the behomeths of the deep". I saw real close a gathering of 20 or more GREY Whales cavorting in the nearby waters of San Diego. We had special treatment in a little boat only 25 by 65 feet in size. The sun was shining, the waves were still and all around us were "Thar She blows" experiences. I thought of the excitement I experienced as a boy reading Hurlbert's Story of the Bible and seeing Jonah being spit out by the great whale. Whales are the biggest animals in the world. I've always been fascinated by "MobyDick", and Gregory Peck's wrestling with the great White Monster.

I talked with the pilot of our little boat. "This is a marvel of our world" he said: these gray whales have traveled 10,000 miles or more from their feeding gounds in frigid Arctic waters. They are on their way to Baja, Mexico and back again. No migration of any animal is greater. It is equivalent to a trip to the moon and back! Each October through May they come our way. Responding to a cue we don't understand, they come. Occasionally there is a birth here in our warm bay. On the way back they slow down here for sometime teaching the young to go down, grab plankton, algae etc. and come up blowing water from their flukes. At birth, baby whales are about l5 feet long and weigh close to a ton. They drink about 50 gallons of milk a day from their mothers and gain about 60 to 70 pounds a day. The whales we watched were 50 ft to 150 feet in length. When they rolled, the large pregnant bodies were immense At Half Moon Bay, there is a skeleton of a blue whale l84 feet in length. It takes 6 Asian Elephants to equal the weight of one whale. A large whale's tongue weighs about 2500 pounds.

The following week after whale watching I spent 2 hours in The Birch Aquarium at Scripp's Education Center. Large Metal models of whales with water spewing high in the air welcome you to a unique experience. I do hope that when you visit us, we can visit this place with you. Thanks for scrolling. It's a beautiful day here and we are replanting flowers and Birds of Paradise. Caleb Elroy.