Dodo

There are a few reasons why I haven’t felt up to a Swing Vote this month.

First, this is an actual picture of the stats map for StealingFaith:

It may be a little hard to see, but there are a heck of a lot of pins hanging out over there in the U.S. of A. Since I like to use a state that hasn’t had a visitor yet and you guys have been so awesome about sharing StealingFaith with friends of friends… well, I’m up a creek without a paddle.

Plus, recently I got some feedback on my Kentucky Swing Vote. The commenter felt no one from Kentucky responded because I was too rude, condescending and perpetuated stereotypes.

(And, to be fair, they had a point. I did mention the Hatfields and McCoys played a Family Feud game where the prize was a pig.)

In my own defense, I do use sarcasm as a love language. And I reported only true things. But… it struck them wrong and I sincerely apologize to any and all I have offended at any point with my random musings and attempts to coax a smile to your face.

These things have combined to make me feel timid about the Swing Vote. Then last night I discovered I’ve had a visitor from a place I never knew was on the planet: Mauritius.

There was a little pinpoint in the Indian Ocean, near Madagascar. I like Madagascar, and not only because “I like to move it, move it. I like to… Move It!”

That little dot belonged to someone on Mauritius, an island nation of French and English dominion.

Mauritius has been an independent nation since 1968. They are in the southern hemisphere, so their winter is May – November and the summer is November – May. Yep. I wrote that correctly, only two seasons! (I find it completely trippy that the weather flips seasons. Yes, I know. I’ve set foot on five continents and can’t comprehend the change in weather. I’m a winner.)

Mauritius is filled with people of English, French, Indian, African, and Asian descent and they speak English, French and Creole fluently. It’s a beautiful island and I think I would like to visit. Soon.

But you know the best thing I discovered about Mauritius? It is the home of the dodo bird.

Here’s what Wikipedia says about the Dodo:

“When it was discovered, the island of Mauritius was the home of a previously unknown species of bird, which the Portuguese named the dodo (simpleton), as they appeared to be not too bright. By 1681 all dodos had been killed by the settlers or by their domesticated animals. An alternate theory suggests that the imported wild boars that were set free destroyed the slow-breeding dodo population. The dodo is prominently featured as a supporter of the national coat-of-arms.”

I remember “dodo” being an acceptable name to call my sister growing up. And the dodo bird takes me back to a very happy place in my childhood.

Our first home computer. A Tandy. And the game, B.C.’s Quest for Tires.

Someone tell me I am not the only child of the 80s who played this game?! It was the first game we had in our house and it blew my mind. Up until tonight, I always believed Thor and his girlfriend, the Cute Chick, were hanging out with Dodo Birds when they got a lift over the lava.

So, it was a logical jump to go from Mauritius and Dodo birds to BC and our first home computer.

Alas. B.C. did not have a dodo bird in it. It was a Dooky Bird. Hm. It was still a lovely walk down memory lane!

That’s the end of my story. Check Mauritius out for yourself. I think you’ll be impressed. I was.

Of course, it’s summer there right now so it’s likely I wouldn’t have feet like popsicles if I were vacationing in Mauritius at the moment. That would be nice.