Hey Zoo, How Are You?

God bless air conditioning and God bless my couch, the two items I require upon returning home from a trip to the zoo in June.

Proud Zoo Members once again (best 79 bucks a parent of young children can spend in this city), we've seen and smelled everything the Zoo has to offer today. For non-Memphians in the audience, you should know that Memphis boasts a spectacular zoo -- truly one of its best assets. It has a long history, and it's well-supported, especially by private donors. Our zoo is the kind of place where you walk in and forget that you're still in your own town. It's top-notch and magical in all the right ways for a little kid, and one of the things that still amazes me (having lived here for going on a decade) is that what is wonderful stays wonderful, which must take a whole lot of work.

I am fortunate to have had a pretty fun childhood, and of course, since it was my childhood, I think my memories from it are better than other people's from theirs. There are many, but my best ones are filed under "Grandma's House in Berwyn," or "On a Bike Somewhere in Morton," the seven or eight-year stretch of time when I was old enough to entertain myself away from the house without grownups, but not old enough to drive. It follows, then, that one of my recurring themes in parenting is "They'll Remember This!" and that's how I feel about our zoo. Cable and Parker are especially lucky to have our zoo as a "regular player" in their lives. It's still a special treat to go, but the zoo is part of our repertoire... we have a relationship with this zoo... this zoo is our friend.

Those are a few pictures from today's visit with our friend, the Memphis Zoo. (Butterfly Garden, Farm Train, Real Panda; Fake Giraffe).