Don't think too hard... Go with the first memory that comes to mind: The word is: ELEPHANT. 10 minutes. Write.

Elephants, huh? No particular memories come to mind. I’m tempted to pass on this question but I guess I’ll just try some free association for awhile.

As a child, my oldest daughter’s favorite book was “The Elephant and the Ant.” I read that book aloud several times daily. It was a cute story—about the smallest, most insignificant member of the jungle finding a way to help the biggest, strongest animal when he was in trouble.

I bet my daughter is glad she’s not an elephant right now… if so, she’d be pregnant for another year. J

I recently saw the movie “Water for Elephants,” a story set in the Depression about good versus evil in a traveling circus. Loved the story and watching Robert Pattinson didn’t hurt, either.

Hmmmm, of course there’s the saying about having the memory of an elephant… which would really have come in handy back in my school days. OK, I admit it, it would come in handy even now.

People talk about the “elephant in the room” and who hasn’t been in that situation before... when there’s an obvious truth that people are ignoring or not addressing. They’d rather pretend it’s not there than to deal with it.

The elephant is the Republican symbol. My mom comes from a long line of Republicans. My dad, on the other hand, came from a long line of Democrats. Politics were never discussed in our house and as kids, we were told that your political beliefs were your own private business. My parents wouldn’t even tell us who they voted for in the elections. For me, this resulted in a total disinterest in politics, which really stems from a lack of education in that arena. Looking back, I think that lively discussions about politics at the dinner table would have been much more educational and beneficial to us.

OK, 10 minutes is up and that’s all she wrote on the subject of elephants!