Toledo

I'm in a better mood today than I was yesterday.  Been overly emotional lately.  Comes with being female. 

We took Jasmine to the zoo in Toledo, Ohio today.  We weren't sure what zoo we'd be visiting on husband's vacation but we eventually (or I eventually) decided to do the one in Ohio now and then the one in Indianapolis in the summer as well as Chicago.  (I've been to all of them but I like to go once a year)  We had  a really relaxing day.  It was a bit on the chilly side when we first got there.  I was glad I'd brought Jasmine a sweater and a blanket.  Once the sun came out it warmed up enough that we could all take the extra clothing off.  It wasn't supposed to be a gorgeous warm day so there was very few people there.  It's a lot more enjoyable for everyone when you don't have to constantly scream at your toddler to watch where their going.  She was able to explore without being shoved out of the way or without tripping adults.  Now, I'm still not sure how I feel about zoos and some are definitely better as far as the animal enclosures go than others.  My favorite animal was a sloth bear who would've much rather been out of his enclosure than in.  We spent quite a while with him.  There was only a (dangerously outdated and thin) piece of glass between him and us.  I had noticed earlier while sitting on a bench that he would go up to people at the window and then stick his head at the bottom.  After everyone wandered away, we made our way to see him.  Eventually I figured out he was trying to sniff us.  Scary thing was, I could FEEL him exhale on my hand through the seal in the window.  Hmm, I think that needs to be updated.  I sincerely doubt he would've mauled anyone to death had he gotten out though.  He was very much like a dog and seemed to just want to sniff us and eat any treats we may have.  I think people may throw food to him (big no-no) through the fenced area because if he saw you had food, he would go sit in front of you until you walked away.  Little beggar.  I loved him though.  Nice old man bear.  The saddest part of every zoo for me is the gorillas.  I have a hard time seeing them locked in.  I look in their eyes and I don't see an animal, I see a human looking back at me.  I had a rather bittersweet moment with the large silverback.  Again, we were separated by glass (MUCH thicker this time) and we were nose to nose.  He didn't seem to be trying to intimidate me, just looking at me, as I was looking at him.  I wanted to touch his face and tell him how sorry I was that he was fated to this jail.  He was a beauty and he showed his strength to any male visitor that stood taller than him.  He would pound his chest.  One of the male keepers was there and said the gorilla doesn't like him because he is a rather tall human male.  Therefore, he always tries to slouch when near the enclosure and never makes eye contact and tries not to even look at him when the silverback is paying attention.  He was the first person we heard him pound his chest at.  A few minutes after the keepers left and we were walking away, an idiot... er patron walked up that was bigger than the gorilla and pounded his chest.  Do I even need to say how pissed the silverback became?  I told my husband, well at least if he manages to get out, he's gonna kick that guy's ass first.  The silverback paced and pounded his chest till the guy walked away.  You know there was a small part of me wishing he would get out and beat that guy to a pulp.  There was a female gorilla who was very pregnant.  She already had one young one to tend to and then another on the way.  I'm sure the youngin will learn quickly that mom has to take care of the baby's needs first.  There were also some lovely monkey's, who's name I cannot recall.  They had a baby and were obviously the parents.  Again, they remind me of humans.  The interaction with the baby was so... familiar.  They played with him, cleaned him and he would get a mischievous look in his eye and smack dad, then high tail it to the highest point.  All and all, it wasn't a bad day.  Jasmine slept all the way home, as did I.  It's only about a two and a half hour drive but we hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.