When Life's a Zoo...

Life’s a bit hairy in the Heartland. As I blogged last week, areas of my state have been hit with a record five hundred year flood. The Capitol City barely escaped wide scale devastation and downtown Cedar Rapids became ‘Water World’ in a matter of hours. Everywhere you go you see the effects of the flood waters: roads closed, fields that have become lakes, pumps pumping away, and wet, ruined carpets and furniture being hauled to the curb. After a winter that lasted nearly six months and included near record snowfall many Midwesterners were craving a nice, quiet, uneventful spring.

So didn’t happen.

Yesterday I decided that we needed a break from the zoo that life had become. So, naturally we went to the zoo.

I gotta confess up front that going to the zoo--any zoo--is not a particular hardship for me. In fact, I have very fond memories of the zoo. The zoo was a place I often took my four children when they were young. They were as intrigued and captivated by the extraordinary animals that hailed from places we’d never visit as I was. And anything that kept four young kids occupied, well, I was all over that.

Now, our little zoo in Des Moines can’t compare to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha or the St. Louis Zoo but it has a certain charm that is appealing. Like the fact you can walk just two measly miles and see the entire zoo and say a ‘howdy do’ to each of its inhabitants and not be moaning about how sore your feet are or how pitted out you are. Bigger is not always better. (And yes, that observation comes from a romance author.)

I handed my camera off to my daughter so we would have pictures that weren’t off center or blurred and that didn’t include a portion of a thumb or finger in the left hand corner. Yeah. I suck at photography. I’m told I have no patience. I’m basically a ‘point and shoot’ kind of gal. You can imagine how well that worked for me out on the firing line at the firearms range during the Public Safety Academy and subsequent recertifications. Let’s just say my fellow officers drew straws to find out who had to flank me on either side at the range.

Anyway, I’ve selected a few pictures, courtesy of my oldest (by 90 seconds) triplet, Katie, to share today.

Mama (Rosie) & J.P.

Here's looking at You 'Kid'

(Sorry! Couldn't resist!)

Rosie and J.P. are not regular zoo residents but are ‘on loan’ to our zoo for the remainder of the month. J.P. was adorable!

And now for my zoo finale--and for your viewing pleasure--the first (and last, I’m guessing!) documented case of Bullet Hole Bacus practicing her milking technique on one very accommodating bovine. Just so you know---it was an ‘udder’ disaster. Hehe!

Anybody have a favorite place the family all enjoys visiting together? Or someplace you go alone to recharge the batteries so you can feel human again? Any activity (knitting, cycling, walking, chess, solitaire, Guitar Man) you engage in when you need a ‘time out’?

Oh, and a head’s up! I’ll be blogging over at the Seekerville blog (http://www.seekerville.blogspot.com/ ) next Wednesday about my ‘yellow brick road’ to publication so stop by and say ‘hey’.

‘Til next week,

~Bullet Hole~