Lover in the Jungle

Every girl needs a break from all the duties that she must perform each day. As a new fan of the National Geographic Channel, I flopped in the couch and clicked the remote. For the following hour I was dialed into the story of a female rhino named Natalie. Sweeping panoramic shots of India were accompanied with the wise and elderly voice of a narrator. The man spoke of the complex rhino etiquette and the difficulty that Natalie had performing it. In the end, Natalie was abandoned by the pack to wander the fields and rivers of India for close to three years alone. I wouldn't described her three year journey as completely isolated. She had three white birds that followed her to every river, tree, and patch of tall grass that she came upon. The birds were like deities that protected her and nurtured her. Then, it was her time: She went to a magnificent Indian version of the magnolia tree, with brilliant pink blossoms that floated down in the soft winds, and Natalie left a scent for the males to follow. In three days, Natalie was met by a male rhino and well, the rest, as they say, is history.

That documentary has been stuck in my head. I've been driving around Orange County and thinking about the different aspect of Natalie's life in terms of survival, isolation, and attraction. Hey, I can relate to leaving the pack, leaving my family moving to a city, feeling isolated in a city, but, I haven't quite made it to spraying a tree in order to meet a guy. Or have I?

A few days ago, I couldn't help but notice the Orange County version of the jungle. The canopy of trees, shrubs, and flowers that surrounded the Sak's Fifth entrance had that aura of river in a desert. Inside Sak's, I was feeding off the posters of woman in leopard prints, men with rough stubble beards, and large trees with couples embraced and bottle of perfume in the foreground. Hmmm....A new bottle of perfume and a sexy new dress can feel like a hot stranger might just part the tall grasses to find me lounging under a tree. Not a single designer, marketing agency, or corporation can remove that primitive need for survival and reproduction. In fact, it's the successful companies that play into all of the primitive desires and fears that we have. Unfortunately, it works like a charm everytime I hit the old watering hole. I buy the bottle of perfume and the dress in the hope that maybe this time it might work. Well if rhino etiquette is complex, we can all image what string of words that narrator might use to describe humanities complex system of etiquette. For now, I wish Natalie well and I'm a bit envious that she had to only wait three years in order to meet Mr. Right. As for now, a girl must keep dreaming....And shopping to continue the good ol' fashion attraction ritual.