We’re home. Yay!
All pets are here. Some of them were even happy to see us. Of course, only for awhile.
C just said he took 1000 photos, not counting iPhone photos (I took 500 with my iPhone).
Oh, gotta go, Ani came out, she must have really missed us. She’s so soft and fuzzy.
At the zoo? Yes! Chicago was awesome in lots of ways but this is was the best. And if you are going to skip this post, go down to the bottom and watch the video. I promise, totally worth it.
Anyway, we stayed across the street from Lincoln Park in Chicago, a huge lakeside park, filled with ponds, wildlife, a conservatory, a farm, a large number of dogs and a zoo. We walked around last night, saw lots of things in the ponds and the sun falling on the skyline. The zoo was closed, of course, so was the conservatory and somehow we circumnavigated the farm without ever seeing it (well, C mentioned seeing a red barn but I figured that was a restaurant). We walked through the Lily Pad garden, visiting a family of ducks, worried they’d close the wrought iron gates on us since we were a little after the posted closing time (they didn’t).
So I got up for my morning walkies this morning. It was bright, really bright. But my sunglasses were far and the elevators a bit slow. At 6:30am, it wasn’t that bad. And I was groggy since I haven’t adjusted to the new time zone (Central). Sun was going to be a good thing.
I walked around the nature boardwalk. I casually snuck up on a dog owner with a beagle and gave it a quick cuddle (happy it was a friendly one instead of some aloof ones I could name, it was totally a good one). But the nature walk went on and one, paralleling and crossing over a stream. I got to a point there I wasn’t sure which was I should go so I went through some wrought iron gates, they were open and maybe led to a new garden.
Not so much. Instead it led to animals! I kept thinking someone would kick me out but joggers kept jogging by, unconcerned. So I stopped my furtive picture taking and started to really enjoy the zoo. The free zoo. The free zoo nearly devoid of people and full of animals enjoying the early morning sunshine.
Ok, so I saw some white lipped deer, a giant goat (takin), some trumpter swans, and some camels. Also, a ton of ducks, geese, squirrels, sparrows, and robins.
And then there were kangaroos. Bouncing kangaroos. Oh my goodness, they look ridiculous. And somehow I recorded them upsidedown? Ok, I’ll leave it here, turn your head or something…
One jogger stopped, kind of suddenly, and said, “I lived in Australia for six months and I never saw a kangaroo hop.”
That made me feel a little better when the ‘roos were eating and rolling on their backs, showing their fuzzy tummies, when I got C (but I spent more than an hour before I met up with him).
There were plenty of exhibits that weren’t open or had animals that weren’t visit. The zebras were a bit of a disappointment because I could see one’s back end in the doorway at the back of the enclosure. It surprised me when I continued to walk, and there were a bunch more. The funny thing was when C came and we re-covered the ground, nearly the same thing happened to him.
As he was admiring the stripey-ness, I looked around and saw something dark, in a display I hadn’t even noticed in my earlier tour. OMG, a great apt! I actually clapped my hands and giggled in excitement. It took awhile to get a good picture but I loved watching him move around, surveying his territory.
He was so close. Though there was a thick window between us. Chris showed me an article about giving ipads to apes to help them communicate and how incredibly effective it was, especially for the younger, tech savvy animals. I was flabbergasted until I got to the line about the zookeeper “letting the orangutans use iPads last summer, based on the suggestion of someone who had used the devices with dolphins”. Whaaaaat?!? That is so very cool. But how to the dolphins keep the ipad dry? And what is in their Netflix queue? The questions are endless.
Ok, back before C got there, I had seen the lion. He was so cool. I mean, really, really cool. Alpha predators are just energizing, you know? When C got there, he was mostly asleep. But one thing we both noticed, the lion moves and acts like a cat. I mean, like our house cats. The tail flick, the glare of derision, the plotting to kill you right after this nap, it was all there. I could see how people forget they are dangerous animals who could eat you as a snack.
C also missed the wolves. They were in the kids area. Which was empty, except for me and the wolves. They were behind a fence so the pics aren’t very good. Like the lion, though, they reminded me very strongly of the the pets. One of them scritched behind its ear with precisely the same canine enjoyment that Bear (the 8lb malti-poo). And the sign’s puppy made me think of Zoe when she howled along with me as I sang Happy Birthday to C one year.
Some of the animals seem to have escaped their cages. I don’t think this belonged right outside one of the bear exhibits. Whascally Whabbit!
C didn’t get to see the wolves but I almost didn’t walk by the rhinos again. But I would have been wrong. The rhinos had just gotten fed!
Ok, I’m almost done, I won’t show you all the other pictures of duckie families, the OCD leopard, the seals, the puma that made C say he never wanted to hike the Santa Cruz mountains ever again. C found all the other big cats, I had missed so much on the first pass. I could go every morning for a week. We almost spent our extra-Yellowstone-day and stayed in Chicago. I mean, I didn’t even tell you about the food (fantastic), the architecture (I knew it would be great but we didn’t actually get to look at it much), or the hotel (book Hotel Lincoln now before everyone else figures out it is the best).
However, I promised one final, better than everything else video. This it the lion roaring (and it is right side up!). Watch it. Well, let it cue up and then watch it.
Yes, the background sound you hear is an exercise class being held in front of the lion cage. I’d roar too, if I was the lion. Think how motivating that would be.
When we got Zoe T. Beagle, we didn’t know what we doing.
C had never had a dog. I’d only had very large dogs (Great Pyrenees, Newfoundland, and Great Danes). Large dogs sleep more than smaller dogs so my experience as canine cohabitant was very different than that of new dog owner.
Zoe was a little demon. Whirling teeth, check. Unholy glint of mischief, check. Inability to sleep thought the night, check. Behaves only at puppy obedience class, check. Insane hound of hell, check.
Beagles are described as “genially stubborn” or “merrily independent”. What this really meant was that our puppy thought we were idiots and was happy about it.
The first time I saw a beagle on leash, walking politely (without being dragged along as it tried to snort whole plants), I pointed it out to C and said, plaintively, “There’s a good one.”
He looked, just in time to see it stick its nose to the ground and start tugging at its leash as it caught a scent.
So now whenever I see a non-Zoe beagle, I say, “There’s a good one.” Well, except that time the beagle was dragging the child into the busy street (that turned out fine, don’t worry). I think after we for done laughing ourselves sick, I remarked it reminded me of Zoe’s puppyhood.
Zoe has gotten older and calmer (it took four years so anyone with a beagle puppy, don’t believe the two year stuff they feed you at the vet). She still thinks we are stupid and is still kind of happy about that (and everything else) but she sleeps more and occasionally goes along with our idiot ideas just to keep the peace (and for liver snacks which she doesn’t believe the dumber-but-more-obedient Bear should get any of).
Yeah, I miss the pups.
Anyway, after lunch today, C pointed out a tall cloud, lit by the sun in distance. I said, “There’s a good one.”
As it traveled over us, the cloud rained in fat drops and sheets for the next thirty minutes.
I miss home. I miss being home. I miss the warm weather and the comfy bed and the soft ears of my beagle. I miss a couch where I can drop food and only feel like I need to clean it up. I miss knowing what is valuable and what isn’t so I know how to feel when I break it.
I miss walking up to my house and looking at the flowers in the garden and smiling. I miss thinking the lemon tree needs to be watered (the lemon tree never actually gets watered, only mentally). I miss the lounge chairs in the backyard under the umbrellas. I miss kicking the dogs off the lounges, sitting down and having them join me again. I miss watching the bees buzz while I slack, watching clouds form shapes as they travel across the sky.
I miss walking around the block, waving to the neighbors. I miss walking the dogs, knowing where they are going to stop and sniff. I miss Bear trying to sit my lap, even if I’m standing up. I miss Zoe looking at me like I’m an idiot and the gleam in her eye when there is a treat at stake. I miss Dylan’s kitty kneading on my leg when my hip aches and his ridiculous yips of excitement when he gets fed. I miss Anakin’s fascination with Star Trek and her soft, furry tail.
I miss watching television with no commercials and watching shows I actually like. I miss reading books on the couch and walking through the house with my nose in a book until C makes fun of me for not looking up.
I miss knowing what to do with myself if I wake up cranky or sad. I miss being able to go to the kitchen and getting a glass of water or a cup of tea after I have a nightmare. I miss being able to wake up, let the dogs out and in, get a cup of coffee and start my work day. I miss solving problems and planning projects. I miss making mistakes that I know how to fix when the compiler tells me I’m wrong.
I miss my giant bath towel, the pink one with polka dots, the one that makes me happy just to look at. I miss having a hair dryer to use when I’m cold.
I miss knowing when we are going to the grocery store and what we are going to get there. I miss not having to plan my next meal because there will be food in the pantry. I miss having enough protein.
I miss having lunches with friends. I miss trying to figure out where I fit in their worlds and whether they’d like to hang out, maybe play some board games. I miss being able to say that I don’t want to go out today.
C fell back asleep this morning after I left for morning walk. He dreamt of being at home, sitting in his chair, reading. It was a long dream.
I don’t recall any dreams though i slept well. However, every time I see a dog, I want to pet it. There was a little Yorkie across the street, walking kind of crosswise to where he was pointed, like he was in a strong wind, like Bear does. If I hadn’t been so very hungry, I would have snorgled it until it begged for mercy.
We haven’t seen any beagles. I think that is a good thing.