Free Day at the Zoo

Lions and Tigers and Bears and Humans, OH MY! Yesterday was the annual choir field trip to the zoo. Jacque asked me to chaperone and reluctantly I agreed. You see, she adores the zoo. I do too...most days...except when it is FREE ADMISSION! Free admission equals scads and scads of people. I don't do crowds very well. Never really have. Avoid them at all costs. That may sound mean but it's really that it's harder to have things your own way when there are lots of people around. Especially at the zoo. You know, I like having my way. I like being able to stand AT the rail to watch the sea lions for as long as I please. Not standing on my tippie toes and weaving back and forth just trying to catch a glimpse. And then there are the people who do just that. Stand at the rail for as long as they please, like they don't see me in their peripheral vision weaving back behind them. The audacity! Grrrr....!!! Anyway, the rhinocerus died, the hippo is gone...so many things have changed. Well, with all the people there it didn't take me long to start thinking about how I really hate big crowds. Heck we had to park in the medical center by TIRR for pete's sake! So when I start thinking about my distaste for crowds it always brings to mind a book my mom and dad used to read to my sister and I. The name of it is "The Three Billys Go to Town" by Nancy Howard. I love that book! I think it is out of print now but it was our absolute favorite. It's a story about three country possums. "They were all named Billy because they looked so much alike that almost nobody could tell them apart. They almost couldn't tell each other apart. Inside they were different, but only their mother knew that." One day their mother decides that they are going in to town. "Won't that be exicting?" she asks her boys? "She watched her boys to see how they would act." One of the Billy possums is so excited. He can't wait to go to town and see the "wonderful, wonderful world!" The second Billy possum just wants to stay home and play with his tractor. He likes to build things and take things apart and put them back together again. The third Billy possum ran and hid in a corner because he was afraid that the people in town might have "purple feet and rings in their noses. And maybe they dance on their toes all day and maybe there was nothing to do there." Mother loads her three Billys in their old jalopy and they head off. I won't bore you with the entire story but I bet you can guess by now which Billy possum I identified with as a child. I didn't realize that until I pulled this old book off the shelf when our children were young and I read it to them. I was always the shy one. People who know me now would probably never think that, but back when I was young, boy, was I shy! I even had to go to kindergarten! Imagine that! I remember one day my mom dropped me off for school at the sidewalk that lead to our classroom. It was a cold winter day and I was very susceptible to ear infections. She had bought me a white hat that had a white braided yarn ponytail hanging off the back. Maybe some of you remember those hats? You know the ones that had the wire in the front and looked kind of like a bonnet instead of a winter hat. And then there was that hideous ponytail hanging off the back. I hated it! I didn't want to wear it! But my mommy made me! Reluctantly, I got out of the car and walked towards my class. I decided right then and there that I would just stay outside all day. I huddled up against the wall in a little alcove and put my hands over my face. I wasn't about to walk into my classroom where I just knew everyone was waiting to make fun of me in my new hat! I would just stand outside all day and blend into the scenery I thought. Well, my mom looked in her rear view mirror and saw me and she came back to rescue me! Needless to say she wasn't happy but she did let me take that hat off! My sister? She's the first Billy possum. She wants to see the wonderful, wide world...and she has! Maybe not all of it but she's been to more places in her lifetime than I probably ever will. The second Billy possum? That would be David. I guess that's why I married him. HA! HE is the missing Billy! That's what I call him sometimes...Billy! He likes to fix things and take them apart. He'd probably rather stay at home and play with tractors than go on a trip too. Well, maybe not, but he is the mechanical one of the bunch. I see a little of my kids in all three of those Billys and it just makes me laugh. I guess that's why I like that silly book so much.

And speaking of purple feet...there wasn't any one at the zoo with purple feet but I did see these...who wears this?!?



I have another story about designer brands but I'll have to save that for another day!

Today's word to the wise? Don't go to the zoo on FREE day!

Cheers!