I FINALLY make it to the Hogle Zoo with Tally this week. Wednesday was October 1st, and it seemed a perfect day to go. So we packed up and met my friend Jackie Cannon there with her three girls. It took a while for Tally to realize that the animals were worth taking note of, and once she did, I think she had a few tender moments. Like in the Giraffe house when the young giraffe almost licked her head and she started laughing uncontrollably and then with the orangatangs- she and Eli shared some good energy with each other. (Oh- and on a side note- I had no idea just how HUGE male orangatangs were! Holy cowabunga! AND check it out: Orangatangs are orange in color, and their name has the 'orange' in it! cool huh! Im pretty smart for realizing that! So much so that I have to tell everyone. Including you. )
Also, being the first day of October, I had to sport Tally in her cute onesie that Sherry bought her. It says: Daddy's Little Ghoul. Also featured is the head squeazer created by my good friend Gladys. It was definitely a hit! The infamous Albino Aligator was pretty cool. Although I wish that there had been chickens running around in its cage so we could have seen some action...
Chris is introducing Tally to bareback riding. Hanks is a good sport about it. Im thinking she is going to be a lover of animals, just like her mom and dad.
I just have to say, some of you non-animal lovers- or under appreciators of animals out there may be asking why I am so thrilled with animals. I will share with you why.
I moved to Saudi Arabia when I was three, and lived there until my 9th birthday. During those 6 years, the only animals I was physically exposed to were the mangy ringworm carrying stray cats found throughout our compound, box turtles, which STINK by the way, food coloring dyed chicks who died within a week, parakeets (hardly handlalbe!) and gerbles whose teeth grew up into their brains! Dogs ran wild and were rarely domesticated (usually eaten!) and camels were tied out in the front of restaurants as their advertisment for next week's meat selection. I never did get the chance to go to any Camel races. My uncles who lived in the states would send our family VHS recordings of Sesame Street and some National Geographic. All of these featured real life footage of animals from around the world- including domesticated animals. I recall at the age of 5 or 6 watching the birth of a Giraffe on one of the Discovery VHS's and thinking to myself- "Wow! That really is a long way to fall!" and wondering how the baby giraffe was not hurt. Such was my curiosity as a young child sheltered from a "real" childhood.
My parents did what they could, I believe, to help me grow my curiosity and education about animals, but there was only so much they could do becuase of where we lived. I did do a few reports during elementary school on the Pronghorn (a type of antelope) and the Lynx. Oh, and also Snufalufagus. Now there is a neat creature! There was a zoo in Saudi Arabia, but we only went one time. Probably a safety issue during that time (Gulf War time). We did have a duck. Yes. A duck. Being we had a pool, why not have a duck to swim around in it?! Where we got a duck in Saudi is beyond me! Our duck's name was Wilber. And then day, Wilber layed an egg. So from that day on, Wilber became Wilberina.
The bottom line is that my exposure to animals was pretty limited until I moved to the states when I was 9 years old. Until then, I had never seen a real cow, horse, domestic dog or clean, tame cat. No chickens, no fishies or bunnies. *Rachel- THATS why I loved hanging out in your Jersey calf barn whenever I would come over to play!* I love animals. They are fasinating. I resent a lot of my friends from Kamas who took what they had for granted. Yes- all you folks who had puppies and horses and kittie and thought nothing of it- GRRRR!
To this day I will hands down watch a Nature show over anything else that is on- even Law and Order. (And I LOVE LOVE LOVE law and order!) No worries though. I made up for lost time when I moved to Kamas and brought home as many animals as my parents could handle during my time in Kamas. Puppies galore. Our back porch was a cat's banquet! Pigs!, Hamsters, egg laying chickens! I even raised rabbits one year! Oh, and dont forget the goats! (WHAT A MESS!!!) If only dad would have let me have that horse I so desparately wanted! (Its still on my wish list- we'll have one, mark my words!)
Needless to day, Tally's and my visit to the zoo was very much enjoyed! But probably more so by me!
Also, being the first day of October, I had to sport Tally in her cute onesie that Sherry bought her. It says: Daddy's Little Ghoul. Also featured is the head squeazer created by my good friend Gladys. It was definitely a hit! The infamous Albino Aligator was pretty cool. Although I wish that there had been chickens running around in its cage so we could have seen some action...
Chris is introducing Tally to bareback riding. Hanks is a good sport about it. Im thinking she is going to be a lover of animals, just like her mom and dad.
I just have to say, some of you non-animal lovers- or under appreciators of animals out there may be asking why I am so thrilled with animals. I will share with you why.
I moved to Saudi Arabia when I was three, and lived there until my 9th birthday. During those 6 years, the only animals I was physically exposed to were the mangy ringworm carrying stray cats found throughout our compound, box turtles, which STINK by the way, food coloring dyed chicks who died within a week, parakeets (hardly handlalbe!) and gerbles whose teeth grew up into their brains! Dogs ran wild and were rarely domesticated (usually eaten!) and camels were tied out in the front of restaurants as their advertisment for next week's meat selection. I never did get the chance to go to any Camel races. My uncles who lived in the states would send our family VHS recordings of Sesame Street and some National Geographic. All of these featured real life footage of animals from around the world- including domesticated animals. I recall at the age of 5 or 6 watching the birth of a Giraffe on one of the Discovery VHS's and thinking to myself- "Wow! That really is a long way to fall!" and wondering how the baby giraffe was not hurt. Such was my curiosity as a young child sheltered from a "real" childhood.
My parents did what they could, I believe, to help me grow my curiosity and education about animals, but there was only so much they could do becuase of where we lived. I did do a few reports during elementary school on the Pronghorn (a type of antelope) and the Lynx. Oh, and also Snufalufagus. Now there is a neat creature! There was a zoo in Saudi Arabia, but we only went one time. Probably a safety issue during that time (Gulf War time). We did have a duck. Yes. A duck. Being we had a pool, why not have a duck to swim around in it?! Where we got a duck in Saudi is beyond me! Our duck's name was Wilber. And then day, Wilber layed an egg. So from that day on, Wilber became Wilberina.
The bottom line is that my exposure to animals was pretty limited until I moved to the states when I was 9 years old. Until then, I had never seen a real cow, horse, domestic dog or clean, tame cat. No chickens, no fishies or bunnies. *Rachel- THATS why I loved hanging out in your Jersey calf barn whenever I would come over to play!* I love animals. They are fasinating. I resent a lot of my friends from Kamas who took what they had for granted. Yes- all you folks who had puppies and horses and kittie and thought nothing of it- GRRRR!
To this day I will hands down watch a Nature show over anything else that is on- even Law and Order. (And I LOVE LOVE LOVE law and order!) No worries though. I made up for lost time when I moved to Kamas and brought home as many animals as my parents could handle during my time in Kamas. Puppies galore. Our back porch was a cat's banquet! Pigs!, Hamsters, egg laying chickens! I even raised rabbits one year! Oh, and dont forget the goats! (WHAT A MESS!!!) If only dad would have let me have that horse I so desparately wanted! (Its still on my wish list- we'll have one, mark my words!)
Needless to day, Tally's and my visit to the zoo was very much enjoyed! But probably more so by me!
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