So today we went to the Zoo – the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo. For a couple of years there we were zoo fiends, going once a week during the summer, but I suppose MIchael’s birth and various travels last year slowed us down a bit – I guess we went once or twice, but I don’t even remember that. If going to the zoo once a week seems excessive, consider: If you’re a member, it’s free (as is admission to many other zoos around the country). It’s about ten minutes from my house. It’s a relatively small, low-key zoo. So it’s really like a couple of hours at a very nice park where little boys can tear around maniacally pointing out monkeys and snakes, and then return home for lunch (or after, if picnics have been involved) and then nap. Exhausted.

Not so excessive, now, eh?

As I said, it’s a nice, small zoo (totally supported by admissions and donations, no taxpayer funds involved), with four major areas, one of which (Africa) is undergoing major renovations to be completed in a year or so. You’ve got your various types of monkeys, a Komodo Dragon, a python, a couple of tigers, scads of kangaroos, sea lions, otters, penguins, and the obligatory Indiana Farm. (At which you can no longer pick up the chicks, only look. I don’t know if that’s because one too many were squeezed to death or disease concerns). It’s good for a long, tiring, walk.

And someday, I will remember to wear closed shoes when we go, especially for the goat pen. Without fail, every time, I stand at the gate, survey the ground in front of me, and think, "Oh, yeah. Dang."