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Monday, June 23, 2008

A lesson of love


I had the incredible luck and pleasure of visiting a penguins reservation in Chile during my South American Cruise. We walked for about an hour and braved the crisp cold and drizzling rain to reach the arid cliff where a large population of penguins gathers during the summer of the southern hemisphere. Honestly, it was worth getting chilly and wet.

The penguins are the most gentle birds (or animals) I have ever seen. They snuggle, hug and smooch like human lovers.

That same night, the ship projected the movie, The March of the Penguins. It is a wonderful love story. I am not the emotional type but I cried when I saw the love of the penguin couples for each other and for their babies.

The father walks seventy-five miles to bring food for his mate while she broods. When he comes back exhausted, he stands very close to the mother. As soon as the chick is hatched out of the egg, the father gathers him under his belly to keep him warm.

Now it’s the mother’s turn to walk seventy-five miles to bring food for the father and their offspring. Some never make it. Some come back to see the egg rolling away or the chick dead. Their desperation is as strong as the humans’.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.







Today I will leave you with a Short Synopsis of

TO LOVE A HERO:


Admired by men and adored by women, Major General Sergei is a true hero in his country. The widowed Sergei has pledged to clean his country of the pollution left by the Chernobyl disaster.


BUT… When a lovely American chemist stumbles straight into his arms, Sergei has more on his mind than nuclear pollution and patriotic duty.


Raised in boarding schools, Dr. Cecile Lornier buried her loneliness under long hours of study and work. On the rebound of a broken engagement, Cecile is determined to excel in her first international contract, the refurbishment of an environmental laboratory in Belarus.


BUT… In Belarus, a Russian country dominated by male chauvinism and intrigues, Cecile finds more chemistry than she bargains for. Nestled in Sergei’s arms, she soon learns that chemicals are not the only things that generate heat.


Can she betray Sergei’s trust to save his career? Would her love cost him everything he values?



FRENCH PERIL is available at Cerridwen Press. You can buy it through this link:
http://www.cerridwenpress.com/RecentRelease.asp
or just click on the book cover pictures on the left of this blog
or through my website http://www.monarisk.com/

5 comments:

Phoenix said...

Hey sweetie! Love the penguin shots. Those were in Chile? Near Tierra del Fuego no doubt. :) You look so COLD! Though the green mittens were a nice touch.

Sandra Cox said...

What a wonderful experience, Mona!

JeanMP said...

It must have been so interesting to see all the penguins. It does look cold there though

Mona Risk said...

Kelly, Tierra del Fuego sounds right.

Sandra, you animal lover, you would have loved the penguins.

Jean, believe me it was cold. I had a bronchitis by the end of the cruise. I wasn't well prepared thinking that summer there meant warm weather.

Molly Daniels said...

My fav exhibit at the zoo has always been the penguins:) I've only watched part of "March"...it's on my To Be Viewed list of DVD's.

S&P shakers arrived yesterday. Thanks:) They're beautiful!