another ZOO adventure

Today Jonah and I went to the ZOO, though the weather looked quite unpredictable, as is the case every day this season. Of course, it did drizzle, but we were ready. The biggest attractions at the ZOO for Jonah are . . . drum roll . . . the out-of-commission tractor for kids to “drive” and the sand box with trucks, buckets, and shovels. The animals are largely an aside at this point.

I love going to the ZOO because it’s lush and green - actually gorgeous colors of autumn now, it’s one of the highest points in the area, thus the air there seems the best, and because I like to check in with some of my favorite relatives (read monkeys) and friends (read otters and sea lions). It’s a good place for Jonah to run, because of the relative absence of cars.

The weather today was sketchy, like I mentioned, which meant that we were there practically alone. What a treat since the ZOO is exceedingly crowded at all times of the day in the summer months. It seemed as if we had snuck in over the fence on an off-limits day since most of the morning it was just us and the employees cleaning and setting up Christmas lights for the annual ZOO Lights display.

This had its advantages. The animals seemed more responsive to our presence and less tired of the crowds. They also seemed a little less inhibited than usual. The monkeys especially. We caught the mandrills in their most intimate moment (if you know what I mean), a first for me and my as-of-yet unaware child. The amazing thing was that these creatures were so casual about their encounter. No frills, no big deal, nothing that required any sort of a ritual or noise. Wham bam and not even thank you ma'am.

The marmoset, the smallest monkey in the world and one of my favorite distant relatives, flirted with us through the glass. It seemed to want to be pet, so it jumped around, switching between teasing us from its branch and coming up close with just the glass between it and our fingers. Jonah loved that little dance.

The orangutangs lounged around lazily, switching between eating leaves off birch branches and gazing at us with their sad human eyes from underneath cardboard. Jonah wanted to know: "What's that doing there?"

Something I was proud of was that Jonah went without a diaper. He peed on the potty before we left, then at the ZOO on the big toilet twice. I had to initiate each time, but it worked. No accident. What a good boy!