At the Zoo (28 years)

No, Lucy was not a Simon & Garfunkel fan, so Suzy, you don't have to dig around for a song that was released a few months before Julie was born.

As I mentioned Friday, Lucy and I went to the Minnesota Zoo on our first date. It was also a hot and muggy day back in 1984. It was very sunny that day with no breeze with a high in the low 90's. Today was overcast and breezy with a high in the low 90's.

As I turned on the radio when I got in the car, "Second Chance" was playing right at the verse I used in Lucy's eulogy. The odds of it happening once is pretty remote; twice has to be close to astronomical.

The zoo has changed through the years, of course. It took me three hours to walk through everything. That's about the same amount of time Lucy and I spent on our first date. I stopped in the bird show just after it started. One of the new birds on exhibit is an eagle owl. Lucy would have been in awe of how big it is. Unlike other owls, it does not have yellow eyes. (And no, the owl's name was not Lucy).

One advantage about going to the zoo on a very warm day is the predominate species on display, Homo Sapiens, is reduced in numbers. However, there also is marked reduction in patience, manners, hygiene and intelligence. The younger members of the species tend to be crankier and gravitate towards the water features. Of the numerous couples there, some with offspring in tow, it was obvious a few were on their first or second date. I wonder how many would be lucky enough to have found the person he or she want to spend the rest of their life with?

There was a serious run on the $4.00 frozen lemonade. When the guy at the booth said "Lemme guess, frozen lemonade?" I asked him if he had a turtle mocha with two shots of espresso. At least he got a chuckle out of it. I didn't get a discount of the lemonade, either.

The Dinosaurs exhibit is supposed to run until September 3^rd. I didn't go to see it. The nerd in me wanted to go, but I think it would be more fun to go with someone. Anyway, I'd probably need adult supervision because I would be trying to take the animatronic critters apart to see how they tick.

I didn't make it to Don Pablo's. It was more of a Dairy Queen day. Trying to move forward doesn't always happen in leaps and bounds. Sometimes it's more of a nudge and a scoot.

Eagle owl

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Eagle owl

Notice the eyes are reddish brown on the eagle owl, not yellow like other owls.

One slightly agitated bald eagle

Just before getting very vocal