Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo

Do you ever have a hankering to ... just hang out with otters? I did today. After reading a book to my students, where there was an otter on one page, I had otters on my mind all day. The weather was sunny and a mild 45˚, so after school I left at my contract time, grabbed my family, and we went to the zoo.

I know that there are people who strongly dislike zoos, and for legitimate reasons. I understand that, and ... I still love to go to our little zoo. It was my stomping ground when I was but a wee lass. We lived a block away from it; I could hear lions roar from my bedroom at night -- I was always scared one would escape -- and the peacocks shrieked all the time. And in that wonderful age when parents set their kids loose and didn't pay attention to where they went, I usually headed to the zoo. Security was amazingly lax in those days; I spent many "after hours" hours there, and had a few harrowing experiences. But I digress.

Our zoo costs nothing to enter; that is actually stipulated in the original charter from when the land was donated to the city. That means that it is no big deal to go even an hour before closing time if, say, someone has a strong urge to see the otters. We spent a lot of time there when our kids were little. There was a blessed period of time when Mr. Ether worked part-time and took care of our youngest, when they went to the zoo often enough to be on intimate terms with the lemurs. But I digress ... again.

We went to the zoo. Sparkly Sea Cow persisted in being as sarcastic as only a twelve-going-on-thirteen-year-old can be -- a far cry from the cute little girl who always wanted to shake keys at lemurs, but I think she had a good time. As we watched the otters in their underwater viewing tank, I felt the tensions of the day (week, month) drain away. I tried to take their picture, but the little buggers wouldn't hold still. They'd swim right up to the glass, run up it, and do a back flip away in a swirl of little bubbles. Again and again. I never get tired of watching them.

What else did we see?

Harbor seals.
Polar bears. The one in the cage looked cute and cuddly, but looking at the size of that one standing up, I was mindful of the fact that children in Churchill, Manitoba do not go trick-or-treating on Halloween. Apparently polar bears do.



Flaming O's.
I didn't get pictures, but we also saw the wallaby, alpacas, camel butts, goats, one wild turkey (who, on the day before Thanksgiving, should have been thanking its lucky star that it lives in the zoo -- and nowhere near Wasilla, AK,) a meerkat, and a red panda.

And Mr. Ether embarrassed Sparkly by having his picture taken, not once, but twice. He looks a little like the soon to be ex-"President", don't you think?

It was fun to do something so spontaneous.