Monday, August 24, 2009

At the Zoo...and Other Thoughts

My daughter and I went to the Omaha Zoo Saturday. It was a fun, but utterly exhausting, day. Thank goodness the weather cooperated. It was in the low 80s, not too bad for August in Nebraska! Of course, there were lots of great animals there.



But this tiger, below, completely stole my daughter's heart. If you look closely, you can see that his front leg, the one laying on his body, is deformed. It either got cut off or he was born with it like this. At first, I thought it was just folded up since he was sleeping. But when we saw him stretch, sure enough - that leg isn't like the rest.


My daughter immediately wanted to take him home and take care of him. She kept running back to him, staring at him through the glass, and I realized again what an emphatethic child I have. Lots of people may have looked at the tiger and realized the deformity and decided to move on to a more "perfect" tiger. Not my daughter. She completely fell in love with him. In fact, she asked me if I could print this picture of him so she could have it.

What a sweetheart.

On Summer's Swift Departure...

Can you believe this is the last week of August? I can't get over how fast the summer has gone - especially this month. As I'm an autumn/winter person, I can't say that I'm terribly disappointed.

On Writing...

Not much writing done over the weekend since I was laid up all of Sunday with some bad stomach bug. I managed to watch an old WW2 movie called Thunderbirds, do too much internet surfing, and took a long nap. But writing? Pffftttt.

On Reading...

I'm still reading Agatha Christie. Something about her writing completely transports me back to another time, another place. That is what we should all strive for.

13 comments:

  1. One of theses days I'm gonna pay that zoo a visit.

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  2. As close as we are, we've never been to the zoo. But we intend to go with our extended family, and make a weekend trip of it before too much time passes.

    I hope you're feeling better!

    And I think there's a lesson for all of us in the story of your daughter and her tiger.

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  3. Some great family fun we've had at various zoos. I never realized how tall tigers are, up to my hip!

    I enjoy WW2 flicks, especially The Longest Day and God Knows Mr. Alison.

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  4. Thank you for sharing those great pic's! My plan later this fall is to take my kids to our local zoo. Love that place.

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  5. What a lovely cat. And your daughter is just such a little sweetie-pie.

    Sorry to hear about that stomach bug - hope you're all better now :)

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  6. What a lovely daughter you have. Thanks for the photos, especially the one of the tiger, so sweet, and it's nice to know that he has a good home.

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  7. Anonymous2:35 PM

    What a sweet daughter you have! Who wants perfect, anyhow?

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  8. Sounds like the break you took was a good one--one you needed to do and your daughter did too!! You'll write this week. Hope you feel better.

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  9. I like the pics, Mel. Can't say I'm too fond of old Agatha, though. Mind you, it's a long, long time since I read her. Maybe I should give her a 2nd chance.

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  10. I'm not a big zoo fan. The L.A. Zoo is depressing. I went once and I'll never go again. I thought it was a cruel place, particularly the elephant exhibit.

    My kids were more interested in watching the raptors eat dead rabbits at feeding time. And my girls wanted to go to the reptile exhibit. My daughters aren't particularly into the cuddly stuff. Actually, when I think about it, they prefer aquariums.

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  11. Aww...aww!...aww...aww!!

    I love all the animal pictures. I could live at the zoo!!

    Hope you're feeling better :)

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  12. Great pictures from the zoo. Our zoo's animals are always asleep whenever we visit them. :O)

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  13. Melissa - this is off subject from your post, I'm sorry, but I just ran across this book at the library and immediately thought of you. Have you read John Crowley's Four Freedoms? It's about women working together to build airplane's for WWII in Oklahoma. Sounds fabulous, and right up your alley. :)

    http://www.amazon.com/Four-Freedoms-Novel-John-Crowley/dp/0061231509/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251229337&sr=8-1

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