Animals and the Caramel-Apple-Thingie

So, today was the zoo. Which is marvelous. I know it’s all about animals, but I couldn’t help but drool over the plants — that papery purple flower I was talking about is statice, I think… and did you know aloes bloom? There are whole gardens of them. And nasturtiums everywhere, cascading down hills in bursts of yellow, orange, and occasionally crimson…

(Can you tell I was almost a botanist instead of a novelist?)

Anyway, not only is the place gorgeous, but it’s huge. If you go to the monkey area, pack lots of snacks, because there’s a good chance you’ll never make it out. I’ll bet every night they find dozens of people in there, trapped in aviaries, or doing endless circles around the orangutans. The panda bears were a standout, by the way, although how they eat that bamboo (it looks like they’re gumming machetes) is beyond me. They have carnivore-style teeth, evidently, and their ancestors were meat-eaters; I’m dying to know which enterprising bear decided that eating tough, sharp, twenty-foot-tall grass was the way to go. There’s no accounting for taste, I guess. Mind you, I like bamboo, too, but I prefer mine stir-fried with lumps of chicken. Oh, well.

It must have been a bear kind of day for me, because the other creature that leaps to mind was a cute polar bear, who was frolicking in the water and slam-dunking a rubber ball. Of course, I was very happy to have a couple of inches of glass between it and me — I imagine they’re much less cute on a glacier when you’re by yourself and there isn’t a zookeeper and a kiosk selling taco salads right next door. But today it was cute, even though my feet hurt.

And to think tomorrow is Disneyland.

Anyway, even though the rest of the MacInerney clan is out eating Italian, Abby and I are staying at the hotel tonight; I thought Abby was warding off a migraine until a perusal of the room service menu resulted in a request for dessert. (Then she asked if I thought it was okay if she went swimming.)

Migraine or no migraine, she’s getting chicken fingers, and is parked in front of the Cartoon Network, which I have mixed feelings about, but am thankful we don’t have at home. And the bar is open for another forty minutes, with free drinks. They gave me something that tastes like caramel apples tonight; I’m calling it the “Caramel Apple Thingie,” but whatever it is, it’s quite tasty, and I’m about to go down and get another one. Then I’ll read one of the library books I carted with me; my choices for the evening are Lucky Star and Honeymoon with my Brother, both of which are supposed to be funny; have no idea how good either is, but will report back if one is a winner.

Toddling down for another caramel apple thingie now. Will report on Disneyland and my childhood Mickey Mouse Ears trauma tomorrow…