Friday Funny — Can You See the Gorilla in the Tree?

Not long after we moved into our house here in Uganda, I came upon Elizabeth and Gaelin seated on the front porch steps staring off into the distance, not moving, not talking. Half an hour went by, then an hour. There they sat, not moving, not talking.

Curious, I sat down beside them and asked what they were watching. They shushed me the minute I opened my mouth.

“Don’t talk, Mom! We’re watching the gorilla in that tree over there to see if he’ll move. We think he’s sleeping.”

I stared into the distance and noticed the palm tree they were watching with such intensity. You can see it in the above photo, through the branches of the trees in our yard. A large piece of bark and leaves formed together to make it look like a silverback gorilla was hugging the tree, unmoving. At least it looked like that to 7 and 9 year old children with active imaginations.

It reminded us of this Farside comic we saw once:

So I ask — Can you see the gorilla in the tree? 😀

(Uganda does have silverback gorillas about 2 hours from where we live. It cost $500+ per person to go see them and they don’t allow anyone under 16 into the protected lands where they are. We’ve never gone, for obvious reasons. 😉 )