#29

We made it to the National Zoo last week. #29 is done.

Several events pushed this activity to the top of the list:
1. the weather has been perfect
2. we wanted to go before it was crawling with kids on spring break
3. and oh yes, there was the possibility that the zoo would have been closed indefinitely had the senate/congress/president not passed the budget

I can be a bit cynical about zoos, but at heart, I love them. I cherish the opportunity to see a panda bear sitting back on its haunches eating bamboo, the Walter-Matthau-like elephants and their knobbiness, the roar of lions (they roared while we were there!), the disconcerting proportions of silverback gorillas, and so much more.

Books are great, pictures of animals are helpful, but seeing an animal move, eat, breathe is revealing.