This weekend my husband gave me a wonderful gift..Himself. He has plans for himself for Father's Day weekend in St. John, Washington USA watching the Sprint boat races. These races take place in sloughs carved out of a farmer's field and are filled up with water. Sounds boring but it is not. I can assure you. These sloughs cross each other and create hairpin turns for the small boats powered by large, fast motors. They race time and have been known to run up on the banks, flip over, and even crash.
Anyway, because I won't see him over the weekend, he spent this weekend doing things with me. Not a normal occurance but quite an equitable trade. I don't begrudge my husband a life away from me as long as I get to enjoy some life as well. I've never been a home body unless you count me as a homes body. We traveled between our homes but we spent a lot of time traveling and collecting experiences. I have always been a doer since I've been an adult. I cannot stand to be idle, even now.
Today, compliments of Bailey Boushay House and Sandra Morrow, we got to go to the zoo, the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Unfortunately for me, my hand controls were out of whack, forcing me to relinquish control of my wheelchair. Maybe I restate that. Fortunately, I was able to sit back and enjoy the ride to view gorillas, giraffe, grizzly bears and wolves. We saw kangaroo lazing in their enclosure with kookaburra housed next door. Ostrich successfully bully the zebra on the savannah display. A lone oryx stood scratching itches against a bramble of sticks. I sure hope my husband got the shot.
I thought for certain I'd see the elusive siamangs when I heard their howling calls. But, no, three visits without a glimpse, yet. I did enjoy the family of red ruffed lemur running through their trees. And the ringtail lemur are real clowns. The colobus monkey was gorgeous with it's long flowing white furry tail in stark contrast to it's black fur. To think, I would've passed them by to see the gorilla. Speaking of which, I think we caught Pete at the right moment. He regal as he sat in the sun eating a carrot.
We saw wallaby, or Rod did, my view was blocked by fencing, glass that reflected back and deep shade. To me, it was another rock. Also hard to see was the baby tigers who look nothing like babies. They were kind of a fizzle but I am glad they are campaigning to save wild tigers. Earth, without them, is a diminished place. I did manage to spot the jaguar when many people were giving up and walking away. So did Rod. Our patience rewarded us with a good view of the orangatan before he buried his head under a burlap coffee bean bag.
The zoo is a lesser place without Bamboo and Chai, the elephants who were transferred to the Oklahoma City Zoo. They were always great to watch as they lumbered about throwing dirt over their backs with their nimble trunks. Good thing I got photos last year! I also missed out on the hippos. They've always been a sure thing hunkered down in their pool but not this time. Where, oh where have our hippos gone? Oh where, oh where, can they be?
This time, we got to see the ferocious Komodo dragon take a nap. Meerkats play and cavort and make the kids laugh and giggle. So did the river otters and penguins. In fact, I blame my sunburn on those adorable penguins. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. What did I miss? Not much, I betcha. The python was all wrapped up in itself under a heat lamp. Not a draw for me. Oh yeah! I forgot. Seahawks, not the football players, the amazing huge raptors with the distinctive yellow hooked beak. Hella yella! They are awesome!
It was time well spent. I'm so happy to have made some more good memories with the man I love. He didn't get exasperated once all weekend with me. That must be a first. I'm so grateful to still have him in my life Could we have turned a corner in our post-ALS relationship? God, I hope so!
I almost forgot to mention that he willingly bought and shared a Rainbow sherbert with me in the pavillion? He also bought me a cotton candy for the road and initiated a trip into the Zoo Store to buy me a keepsake? THIS is the man I fell in love with!!!
Anyway, because I won't see him over the weekend, he spent this weekend doing things with me. Not a normal occurance but quite an equitable trade. I don't begrudge my husband a life away from me as long as I get to enjoy some life as well. I've never been a home body unless you count me as a homes body. We traveled between our homes but we spent a lot of time traveling and collecting experiences. I have always been a doer since I've been an adult. I cannot stand to be idle, even now.
Today, compliments of Bailey Boushay House and Sandra Morrow, we got to go to the zoo, the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Unfortunately for me, my hand controls were out of whack, forcing me to relinquish control of my wheelchair. Maybe I restate that. Fortunately, I was able to sit back and enjoy the ride to view gorillas, giraffe, grizzly bears and wolves. We saw kangaroo lazing in their enclosure with kookaburra housed next door. Ostrich successfully bully the zebra on the savannah display. A lone oryx stood scratching itches against a bramble of sticks. I sure hope my husband got the shot.
I thought for certain I'd see the elusive siamangs when I heard their howling calls. But, no, three visits without a glimpse, yet. I did enjoy the family of red ruffed lemur running through their trees. And the ringtail lemur are real clowns. The colobus monkey was gorgeous with it's long flowing white furry tail in stark contrast to it's black fur. To think, I would've passed them by to see the gorilla. Speaking of which, I think we caught Pete at the right moment. He regal as he sat in the sun eating a carrot.
We saw wallaby, or Rod did, my view was blocked by fencing, glass that reflected back and deep shade. To me, it was another rock. Also hard to see was the baby tigers who look nothing like babies. They were kind of a fizzle but I am glad they are campaigning to save wild tigers. Earth, without them, is a diminished place. I did manage to spot the jaguar when many people were giving up and walking away. So did Rod. Our patience rewarded us with a good view of the orangatan before he buried his head under a burlap coffee bean bag.
The zoo is a lesser place without Bamboo and Chai, the elephants who were transferred to the Oklahoma City Zoo. They were always great to watch as they lumbered about throwing dirt over their backs with their nimble trunks. Good thing I got photos last year! I also missed out on the hippos. They've always been a sure thing hunkered down in their pool but not this time. Where, oh where have our hippos gone? Oh where, oh where, can they be?
This time, we got to see the ferocious Komodo dragon take a nap. Meerkats play and cavort and make the kids laugh and giggle. So did the river otters and penguins. In fact, I blame my sunburn on those adorable penguins. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. What did I miss? Not much, I betcha. The python was all wrapped up in itself under a heat lamp. Not a draw for me. Oh yeah! I forgot. Seahawks, not the football players, the amazing huge raptors with the distinctive yellow hooked beak. Hella yella! They are awesome!
It was time well spent. I'm so happy to have made some more good memories with the man I love. He didn't get exasperated once all weekend with me. That must be a first. I'm so grateful to still have him in my life Could we have turned a corner in our post-ALS relationship? God, I hope so!
I almost forgot to mention that he willingly bought and shared a Rainbow sherbert with me in the pavillion? He also bought me a cotton candy for the road and initiated a trip into the Zoo Store to buy me a keepsake? THIS is the man I fell in love with!!!
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