December 28th

A break in the rain brought new hope to the jungle. However with the eldest native being ill with a head cold I thought it best to contain him to the indoor region for the day due to the frigid temperatures outdoors. This has made for some intriguing new observations of the natives. So often, if one falls ill, the other follows in suit. However at the present, the younger native is still in excellent health. This has created an interesting new dynamic to their social interactions with one another.

While normally the younger native demands more attention, in seeing his sibling ill he has taken on the role of caretaker. It is fascinating to watch the process. From what have observed I believe that he feels the best thing to do is to entertain his brother. This has involved different attempts to amuse him.

He first thought it would be humorous to use his cereal bowl as a hat. Unfortunately, this did not amuse the elder native (nor myself, as I was left with the duty of cleaning the assured mess that followed). When that didn’t work the younger native then tried using the opportunity of his caretaker (myself) being busy, to throw the bowl across the room. Impressively his feat of strength resulted in the shattering of his Corelle dish, (a nice looking dishware that is by all other accounts shatter proof; however to be fair I doubt even the strongest dishes were meant to be thrown across a room by an enthusiastic native).  While this did not amuse the elder native the younger creature was quite proud of himself, and believed that it was one of his superior displays.

Finally when these attempts failed the elder native retreated to his cave for some much needed slumber. As his caretaker busied herself with dishes and sweeping up the shattered bowl, the young native followed his sibling into his cave for a routine sure to make him feel better. I did not see everything that happened but through the crack in the doorway I could hear a native rendition of “Jingle Bells”, followed by “Rudolph” and finally by the younger native setting off all the noise making stuffed reindeer which resulted in 3 plush toys singing a round of “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer”.

Though the attempts at entertainment may have fallen short where the elder native is concerned I am pleasantly surprised to see this companionate side of the younger native. After all, I cannot image the level of clean up that would be needed if he was upset with the elder native instead.