Mr. Giraffe grew up along the roadside on our farm near the corner of Mt. Hope Avenue and Creek Road. It was one of a group of small sumac trees. This one was unusual in the fact that it had two top branches growing, about a foot apart, vertically from one trunk.
I speculated that it had been injured sometime in its history and had rehabilitated itself in this odd fashion.
Anyway, I dug it up, scraggly roots and all, and cut off part of the top branches.
It was then that I first recognized him as "Mr. Giraffe". All this time he had had his head buried in the dirt like an ostrich, but with his legs straight up in the air
I set him right side up, standing at last on his own two feet.
Of course, it was Mr. Giraffe!
Charles E. Page
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