Here's my nephew, Michael, blissfully feeding sugar on a popsicle stick to one of the free-flying members at the Lorikeet Aviary.
Doesn't he look like he hasn't a care in the world?
Oh, my!
Here Michael is again, this time petting goats!
The woman in the foreground is his mom, Melinda, also known as Grammy to his two 6-year-old girls.
That's Leila, with her back to the camera and glitter on her pants, while Alyssa plays with her hair.
Here they are again!
This was earlier, on the train, with the three of them two rows up, and their cousin Miyah, too!
Grammy is right behind them, lil' Miss Chlo by her side!
Oh, my!
Now, all four girls are together in the hurricane simulator!!!
Michael had to let out the two little ones midway through - the loud noise scared them so much!
Mama Christina was close at hand to reassure, as she had known it would frighten her girls - they don't even like hair dryers.
I fed this giraffe!!!
We all had Total Experience tickets, granting us passage on the train, feeding of birds and giraffes, rides on the Carousel, the 4-D movie about Mowgli, and even discounts on lunch at the Trout River Grill!
Oh, my!
What a beautiful bit of lyrical writing at the pavilion in the Asian Bamboo Garden!
No, it wasn't haiku, but it it very much was in that same genre, with imagery called into being by the words.
More beautiful images were evoked by this poem by Herman Hesse, "Sometimes", over near the largest alligator I ever hope to see at the Florida Pavilion.
I read aloud the original German words, in my best poetic voice, taking care to follow their rhythm... and others paused and listened to the wistful longing within the foreign words... very nice.
We took care to pause now and then, too - of course, as we passed seven-plus hours at the Jacksonville Zoo!
That was Michael taking a time to himself with the near-haiku.
Then we had all the little blonde babies in the stroller!
Actually, that didn't last long, as Miyah didn't have enough room there on Leila's lap! Everybody out! LOL!
By that time, we had petted the sting rays and had them nuzzle our empty hands for fish that were never there.
We'd taken two rides on the train and sought out the (komodo) dragon and admired the peacock with the impossibly-blue breast that almost sparkled.
The chilly morning had made way to a warm and sunny day that was perfect for our outing!
i thank You, God!
And many thanks to you, dearest Christina Ann, for giving us all this day together.
She covered admission for all eight of us.
And her mom, my dear outlaw, bought lunch for all - thank you, Melinda.
Oh, my!
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