A Busy Saturday

Mike took off for the zoo this morning, after Anne decided she wasn't quite up to it. She had really wanted to go, but she really did need some pain meds, and they make her so drowsy. Best not to overdo, in any case. Mike came back home about noontime, and had some good photos to show for his trip. He did get a membership, although there was not really a super good variety. He ended up getting a 1+1+1, which is in his name. We can all get in for free now (having paid for the membership, so not really free!) or he can go and take any combination of up to 2 other people without paying to get them in. We can't go without him though. Still, this will work out, and we have already "paid" for more than half of it, as we all went for a quick trip to the zoo this afternoon.

It was quite warm, and we did notice it at the zoo. There was a lovely breeze that kept it from being too hot. It really did get quite warm---I saw the 6 p.m. news and they listed Melbourne fluctuating between 87 and 90 degrees. It was quite overcast when we went to the zoo, and that did keep the sun from beating down, but it was also a bit more humid, so warmer from that. Oh well. It is nice to be able to go to the zoo and not feel we have to stay for hours to justify the expense.

Anne got quite warm, and her sling was making her quite sweaty, so we didn't stay as long as we might have otherwise. They don't have a huge selection of animals, as Mike said, but there ARE animals, and birds, and the zoo is nicely laid out, and quite scenic. We saw what have to be scarlet ibis, as they look exactly like the ibis we see around our neighborhood, but they are bright red. They looked really amazing in among the greenery. I had hoped to find a photo from the ones Mike took today, but they are all "raw" and rather than mess something up, I will have to wait for him to put one in his blog. He took a number of photos of the flamingoes, too. Anne got a kick out of them--I did too---their knees and the webbed parts of their feet are all pink! She says she wishes she could sleep standing on one leg the way they do! It was really interesting to watch them all!

I don't think they have brought the new baby giraffe out yet, but we did see one giraffe this afternoon, and Mike said the adults were all out on display this morning. You can buy giraffe food and can have a go at feeding them. I guess that is fine if you don't mind giraffe tongue all over your hands? They sell only a certain amount of giraffe food, so as not to spoil their appetites for their regular fare. They have Purell dispensers in that area too, I guess so giraffe feeders can sanitize after the experience!

We had dinner out at the Gator place and then stopped at the bookstore, as Anne was looking for a book she had heard of. I found it for her, so it was a successful trip! We had noticed a lot of smoke on down the road as we were headed to dinner, and there was even more smoke when we came out of the bookstore. There were a good number of police cars, they had the more southern sections of Wickham blocked off, and you could see that on down the road the visibility was non-existant. I found a report on the news after we got home, there is a brush fire on both sides of Wickham to the south of where we were. They are hoping that the burned areas at Wickham Park, that burned last week, will provide a needed fire break and will allow them to get this fire under control. There are houses and other buildings in possible danger from this fire, and it is still quite windy, which doesn't help a bit. They said there is another fire in another part of south Melbourne, and one in Palm Bay. Those two fires don't sound like they are nearly as bad as this one. I imagine that they will find that this one is arson too. I don't understand the mentality that leads people to set fires. I can think of a fitting punishment, but I know the "civil liberties" people would scream about it. Oh well.

So, the excitement never ends here. This has definitely been one of our more activity packed weekends, and it is only Saturday. I imagine we will have to sit quietly and rest tomorrow! Mike and Anne are both quite tired after their long day out. Mike's was double long, of course, with two trips to the zoo and more walking during the morning trip there than during the afternoon trip. I didn't make it onto the nordic track today, so at least I got a little bit of exercise!