The dodo? At 103, mom decided learning to play the piano would be a nice challenge to add into her life. My brother, Mike, found a guy on Facebook marketplace and took her to look at a small selection of pianos. The next day, said piano was delivered.
I dug into my old piano bench crammed with music and fished out one of the early beginner songs I must have learned way back. The Dodo Song. I really had no idea what a dodo was except it might have been used pejoratively “you stupid dodo bird” when we were kids. (Anyone remember that?)
The dodo, a flightless bird, lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The dodo is long extinct so when I read about the Carousel of extinct and endangered animals in the Jardin Des Plantes in Paris, it was a must see.
The Carousel is one of many interesting attractions in the Jardin des Plantes (south of the Sorbonne, next to the Seine). There were big statues of prehistoric creatures dotting the park. It looked like they lit up at night and I imagined a “River of Lights” type display. (River of lights is a traditional light display in Albuquerque’s Botanical gardens consisting of thousands of creatures fashioned out of lights).
And there was the gallery of extinct and endangered animals.
Oh and some pretty flowers (it’s a botanical garden after all).
Guess my comments didn’t make it. I was talking about what I learned about the dodo. It became extinct due to people being too festive. People loved the taste of the bird with a big breast and tended to eat more of their fill. I suppose there was a market for them and they sold. Just supposing.
I thought they came from Kenya as that’s where I got the music and watched the dance, the women wearing feathered costumes. Anyway, the song was peppy and a lot of guests knew the tune and sang with gusto (Gussie?)
Seems that dodo the dance is Kenyan and dodo the bird is from an island in the Indian Ocean. Kind of odd.