Someone asked me today about our crest, and how we made it. Here’s the story: There is a monastery near the base of the north side of Mount Everest at 16,434 feet called Rongbuk. It’s a ramshackle place that appears like a mirage after a steep climb. I arrived at the end of the day, after a storm — wet and unbearably tired. Rongbuk is said to be the highest-elevation monastery in the world. We stopped there before continuing onward. Flickering candles lit the walls of the monastery while monks — draped in plum-colored robes — walked the space solemnly. On the wall of the monastery I saw a mural. It was faded, but the image was clear: an elephant with various animals standing on its back. I would see versions of that mural in other temples in Nepal and India. It is a metaphor for the world’s animals standing on each other’s back, everyone working together for Mother Nature and each other. I made a sketch of it, and later it would become the Flamingo Estate crest (but I added my dog Daylesford). If you look closely, you’ll even see a Dandelion — a reminder to keep moving, to change, to resist. But most of all, to find beauty, to seek pleasure, in the meantime. X Richard