Today's bridge lesson

And just like that, we're back into spring around here after a brief Indian Winter on Monday/Tuesday. Growing up I used to think Indian Summer (one of my absolute favorite evocations, btw) referred to a cool day in autumn. Amazing how I got that definition entirely backwards. But then, I got a lot of things backwards as a child. Today, I'm much more forward-thinking. For example, the preceding sentences have no relevance to anything following.

So yes, we (Buster, Marisol & I) took in Zoo Atlanta on Tuesday. As this was a trip that had been planned for a few weeks and on the only spare day I could muster on Buster's week off, the weather, annoying though it could have been, was of little consequence to actual plans. A sunny day with temperatures in the 70s would have been preferable, however. On the bright side, I didn't have to worry about standing in line for 20 minutes to get an ice cream.

Growing up, the zoo nor it's more annoying cousin, the circus, were terribly high on my family's list of funtime activities. It's not that we hated animals, the numerous cats we unwittingly brought into the world would certainly suggest otherwise, but Andy always wanted to go to sporting events and I to Disney World. Anything else was a waste of time and money. And probably still is. In fact, I can only remember one such trip to Zoo Atlanta, or Grant Park Zoo as it was known then. I've no idea why or when they changed the name but imagine it had something to do with some moneybags getting all huffy over something that had nothing much to do with anything on his death bed. That's usually how these changes go.

Presumably, the big draw back then was that stalwart of Atlanta culture (read in that what you will), Willie B, gorilla par excellence. I'm sure we saw him that day as it was an exit requirement but I really do not remember much about it. I presume he remained seated in a corner awaiting a callback from American Tourister that never came. Except for when he was flinging poo at us gawkers for relying on cliches, of course.

But Willie B ascended to the great cage in the sky a few years ago and aside from a remarkably life-like monument, which Buster promptly climbed upon for no reason other than to stick his fingers up Mr. B's ample nose, there was little reminder of him at Zoo Atlanta yesterday. I suppose the week of mourning and gnashing of teeth was all he got. Apparently, Willie B Jr. does reside in the zoo's confines though due to the weather we were unable to see him or any of his relatives. In that regard with the weather, we were quiet fortunate. Aside from various members of the chimp,monkey and orangutan family as well as the tiger/leopards, all animals were out and about. Nevertheless, our admission was half-price so I warmed myself with the though I was sticking to the animal captors and had somehow beat the system. As a rapidly-approaching middle-aged, middle-class, white man I have to take revolution anyway I can get it.

These days the big draw at the zoo are the pandas of which we saw three, including the recently born Mei Lan. True to form, the adults pandas did little more than sit, eat bamboo and look cute. Apparently Mei Lan hasn't mastered the first two; she merely looked cute. A cuteness which was separated from me by a protective glass. This was just as well as I'm pretty sure being mauled by a panda wouldn't be all that pleasant.

I guess life in the wild prepares these animals for more or less anything. They generally seem unfazed by the actions of us gawkers. Pictures are met with the same indifference that greets hollers for their attention. Buster did his best to get each and every animal we saw to notice him. These attempts were all met with the animal equivalence of a shrug: a blank stare. Which is not to say these animals didn't try their best to perform as expected. The lone rhino made laps around some imagined obstacle for no particular reason. The giraffes looked tall and the lions looked fierce. The elephant even dropped a deuce right in front of us. Needless to say this was the highlight of Buster's day.

It warms my heart to know that he'll not remember our zoo trip because he saw all his favorite animals. Or got an awesome t-shirt. Or even because it snowed. No, what he'll remember is that he wished aloud the elephant would go to the bathroom for us. The heavens parted and so did Jumbo's cheeks. The 1500 lbs beast stuck his rather hairy, rather ample ass in our face and let plop. Outstanding.

Sometimes God smiles.