colorado springs. part 2: the zoo

yesterday was a new day. i woke up quite late, but was happy for it. it was almost 10:am and i knew we had some type of plans for the morning, i never completely discerned them. but, i also heard movement upstairs so i got up, dressed and readied myself for the day. frances was up and cleaning, and informed me that we were going to the zoo.

around 11:am frances, natalie and i left for the cheyenne mountain zoo. in general i am not a big fan of zoos, the whole idea of caging animals and profiting from them, but i tried to sneak into the zoo at san diego to no avail, and i was actually excited to go. i hadnt been to a zoo since i was a young child, maybe they had changed.

we met up frances' friend kim and her two children at the zoo. one of her children, spencer, is natalies only boyfriend, upon seeing each other they hugged, held hands and then proceeded towards the animals. the first one we came upon was the giraffe. the zoo sells graham crackers for people to feed the giraffes and frances bought some. i wasnt pleased with the result. the giraffes have very long blackish tongues and are quite free with the placement of them. i got to see them engulf natalies hands and even lick her face. i didnt want that, i am not a big fan of messy fun.

then we proceeded along up the zoo to the other animals. i dont recall all that i saw, but we saw many of them and with kids along, it is generally slow going. i didnt mind so much. i was enjoying seeing the animals as well. probably the best display were the bears. you walk into a little enclosure where you can see the pool that the bears can jump in and it is full of fish that they can eat. there are two bears and they were cruising up away from folks for a minute then one came into the water. she was playing in the water and having a good time, then the other bear came up and wanted to also go in the water. they both got in and were playing/fighting for a fair amount of time, generally right up on the glass so it was nice.

the worst part was the primate villages. the baboons were so sad for their captivity and you could just see it in their faces. one of them was sitting by the glass trying to lay down and a number of kids were pounding on the glass and trying to get him to be active and then we got up and came over to the side i was on. he cleared a space and laid down and looked right at me with his sad knowing eyes and starting making signs with his hands, then the kids came running to my side and resuming their torment and the animal pointed at them and covered his face.

it was sad. we continued up the zoo looking at the animals. at some point, kims other child, a daughter named lavender took a liking to me. she was older than the other kids, they were 4 she was 7, and she kind of acted as a mini adult. she wanted to walk up and down the stairs with me when everyone else took the elevator and wanted to show me various things the animals were doing and such. it was nice. i felt kind of like a parent, keeping eyes on littler kids and paying attention to the older kid.

eventually, after many hours at the zoo everyone was tired, but there was one last thing that we wanted to experience. that was the ski lift! or zoo lift or aerial tram. a device that i am quite fond of. kim didnt want to go, and we needed someone to stay with the stroller, so it worked out. frances went with natalie and spencer, i went with laven. and it was a fun time.

after that, all tired, with cranky kids, we parted ways and went back to the house. we were hanging around there for awhile, eventually frances had to go pick up travis from work and i was watching natalie. for only like 20 minutes, but still. we chatted for a bit, but mostly she just glued things together and paid no attention to me. and we watched a scooby doo movie.

then frances and travis got back, frances had to go to school and suggested that travis, natalie and i go see a movie together at the dollar theater. the only problem was in relation to vehicles. frances needed the car to go to school and we needed the car to the theater. without even thinking about it i offered frances my truck and she readily accepted. that was the first time someone other than me has driven my truck since i got it. not because i would never let people drive it but because most people couldnt drive a stick shift.

i wasnt nervous about it until after we got out of the movie. we went to see monsters vs. aliens and sneaked in some slurpees and our own snacks. dollar theater be damned. the movie was okay, it was a kids flick, but when we got out we walked into an ominous world. the entire sky was prematurely dark, the wind whipped at our bodies and lighting was a constant frame in the distance. it was cool. that might be why i started being nervous about my truck, but probably mostly because everything in my world is contained in it and being disconnected from it is kind of like having my daemon cut off.

we left the theater and travis wanted find a good place to park and overlook the ion storm. we ended up on a regular street but at the top of a hill and sat there watching the amazing display from nature for a number of minutes, then headed off for home. there we sat and chatted for awhile waiting for frances to come home. we watched some of the miami model and talked about political and other things, still all good things.

when frances came back we talked more and, all tired, put on a cheesy movie which i fell asleep to promptly. then i went to the basement, looked at the internet for a minute and went to sleep! i have been staying up late the past couple of days and getting up late, a change from my normal routine, a change from the pattern of life that i have been breaking out from.

pictures!