i looked into a giraffe's eye and burst into tears

For the last three days I've been at a place called White Oak Plantation and Conservation Center
which, i think, can be abbreviated to... heaven.
the view from my bedroom:I walked among titans of the arts and animal kingdom:
James Lapine
and giraffes...
...to name a few.

Howard Gilman is the beautiful human responsible for heaven
Mr G was born in 1924 and died in 1998.
the fourth and last in a line of Gilmans starting with Isaac Gilman who founded the Gilman Paper Company.
Dartmouth Grad, Phi Beta Kappa, served in the Navy in WWII.
He was a huge animal lover and ended up taking thousands of acres of company land for timbering in jacksonville FL, creating the conservation side of White Oak to "provide conservation options for the future by maintaining genetically diverse populations of threatened species in spacious, natural facilities."
the other side of White Oak, though, is related to his incredible sensitivity to the work and needs of young artists...houses, studios and theaters dot the preserve, built to showcase and incubate his artist friends, like, say, Baryshnikov, who credits much of what he's become to Gilman's support... personal and financial.
One of the 200 signed posters lining the halls:
Unlike other heavy hitting arts patrons, Gilman treated artists like he did his animals: supporting their lives and conserving their habitat; not teaching them tricks or putting them on display like trophies.
as Mark Morris said in an interview i saw, "Howard was faaabulous. and he handled me just like he would a rhino. he said, 'look at that beautful rhino over there. i'm going to make it possible for that rhino to be as beautiful and happy as it can be."
thatd be a white rhino named bernie. (not mark morris)

anyway.
a small group of special people who have donated a lot of their resources to the arts at dartmouth were invited to White Oak to enjoy the facilities, see the animals, and mostly, participate in a three day residency with about 15 invited artists.
there were actors, writers, directors, producers, dancers, chreographers, musicians... it was like a creative noahs ark.
and other than me, they were all the big time kind...
i was brought down to present a portion of the play that will be produced later this spring.
what i actually did was lay low and take notes while my brilliant and incredibly big-league cast and director did their thing.
Annie and Jamie in rehersal:
We ate all meals as a group and had separate but open rehearsals so the patrons could walk through and watch our proooocess and then there were informal presentations with equally informal (drinking at the bar) discussions of the work.
Gilman's collection of decanters behind one of at least a dozen bars on the property:
Basically it was a massive creatively inspired mix of minds in a place bursting with art and animals and saturated in the spirit of an incredible man...
it was beautiful
and i will never forget what i felt when i looked that giraffe in the eye

note: giraffes hearts weigh on average 25 lbs.