Mono Monday # 60 ~ Strength

It will be most interesting to see the interpretations of Chantler63's chosen theme for this week ~ strength. It's a bit like the wind really, difficult to photograph, as what you are really capturing is a symbol of the word, rather than the word itself.

Elephants, being one of the strongest of all animals, are often associated with the word. Failing the presence of a live elephant amid my menagerie, the next best thing I have is some ornaments of elephants, complete with their own story of strength, and how they came to be in my family.

In the early 1950's, when my parents emigrated from England to Australia, penniless, and with three young daughters (my three big sisters) in toe, their ship traveled through the Suez Canal. Back in those days, merchants in smaller boats would sail close beside the ships, showing their wares to the ship's passengers, hoping for a sale or two. My parents chose two black elephant ornaments and a pair of matching book-ends, all complete with genuine ivory tusks. (Tut-tut!  But we must remember that back in those days, the awareness of ill treated animals was not known of as it is nowadays). 

The elephants are all showing serious signs of their age now, but every time I look at them they continue to remind me of the strength of will my parents must have possessed back then, enabling them to begin a new life for their family, on the other side of the world, after living through the devastation of the war years in England.

Many thanks to Chantler63 for hosting Mono Monday this month....this theme really got me thinking....I wonder what she will choose for next week's theme?