Friday, July 2, 2004

Finally I'll go to work

I wish we had more options where these journals ask for "mood".  Like grumpy, tired, etc.  This morning I'm feeling sorry for myself because I spent yesterday at the zoo walking and now have to work for a whole day today (poor me), when I should be thankful for the morning horseback rides I had on my two extra days off, or the pleasure of having Lyndsay get on my lap Wednesday evening and falling asleep before I could sing all the verses of "Amazing Grace". 

The zoo, when I'm in the company by small children, has never been a lot of fun for me:  I remember talking Cliff into a family outing there, and his complaining because all Jim and Rachel did was poke, prod, and insult one another.  He'd say, "Oh yeah, they're having a hell of a lot of fun now, aren't they?"

This gets me thinking about Cliff's brother, Warren, who never married until he was almost 40.  He used to spend a lot of time at our house, and when I wanted to do something with the kids that I knew Cliff would hate, I'd con Warren into taking us.  He hauled us to visit museums and zoos, miniature golf courses, and all other manner of local activities that Cliff abhorred.  Warren wasn't the brightest candle on the cake, but he certainly saw to it that the kids and I did a few things that Cliff would not have enjoyed being forced into... and all for the price of his admission, a tankful of gas, and a six-pack of beer.  Warren died a few years back of heart failure, the result of a childhood case of strep throat that went into the complications of rheumatic fever, and hospitilized him for months at the age of thirteen.  As a non-driver, I'm still grateful for all the places he took me and the kids.  Thanks Warren, wherever you are.

One memorable thing yesterday at Swope Park: the gorilla was just on the other side of a viewing window, so that we could look at him lounging lazily against a log, about six feet away.  He looked so human that, when he'd glance at us, Deb and I felt like we were being rude staring at him and had to fight the impulse to look away. 

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