[I want to get something down before I forget, since this journal is partly for my own time-binding.]

Our friends Alan and Jeanne were in town for a few days, and [personal profile] cattitude and I got to spend a few hours with them, and with Alan's nephew. The nephew is why they were here—the trip was a bar mitzvah present from Alan—and seemed to be having a good time, though he didn't say a lot to us. (Not surprising, one thirteen-year-old and four adults, two of whom he'd never met before.)

Alan specifically wanted ice cream, so we went to Tosci's; I had orange caramel ice cream, which was very good. We ate ice cream, and talked, and then walked over to Pandemonium (I think it was the nephew who specifically wanted to go there), and then to Dumpling House on Mass Ave for supper.

A good few hours of conversation, though I realized afterward that I'd talked a lot with Alan and only a little bit with Jeanne. It was also a reminder that it had been too long since we talked: it's good that we still have the kind of friendship where we can pick up after that kind of gap, but I don't think Alan had quite realized that since we hadn't talked in over a year, I didn't know he and Jeanne now have two grandchildren.

I am going to try to make more of an effort to keep in touch, rather than assuming Alan will call (our old pattern from when I lived in New York).
Maureen ([livejournal.com profile] brisingamen) is visiting from England, and on Tuesday she saw a subway ad for the Bronx Zoo. This made her think of Ben, because he lives there, and that led to a discussion of the zoo, and schedules, and the pregnant okapi.

The upshot of this is that I took a vacation day, and Maureen, Dave ([livejournal.com profile] filkerdave), Ben, and I went to the zoo. We were all late, but met at the appointed place, with a bit of help from a zoo employee who pointed out to me and Ben that there were subway delays.

Once gathered, we headed for the okapi, stopping only to watch the cheetahs.

Someone told us that the okapi was hiding in the corner of her exhibit, and we decided we could wait. A few minutes later, her head appeared.

Maureen was delighted. We watched the okapi eat, with the weird and wonderful blue tongue that okapi and giraffes have, and eventually she came forward and we got to see at least half an okapi.

We watched the okapi for a long time before going on to giraffes, and lunch, and many other animals. Maureen said "I've seen an okapi, I can die happy", but first she got to see a tapir being active and even swimming below the surface--there's something pleasing about watching an animal under about three inches of water. We went to the children's zoo for lemurs and the fennec, and visited the bats in the World of Darkness, and generally saw more than I usually have the energy for in one afternoon.

And Maureen kept saying what a good zoo it is, and Ben and I were delighted--it's on both of our lists to show visitors, and a place we each spend a lot of time.

And the baby crane is looking far less like a baby, though she still sits with her feet stuck out in front of her: she has attractive light-brown feathers on her neck and head, not the gray and black of her parents, but no longer a newborn fuzz.

It was a perfect zoo day, warm and sunny, and wonderful to have Maureen give me a reason to take a random June day and go look at the animals.
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Maureen ([livejournal.com profile] brisingamen) is visiting from England, and on Tuesday she saw a subway ad for the Bronx Zoo. This made her think of Ben, because he lives there, and that led to a discussion of the zoo, and schedules, and the pregnant okapi.

The upshot of this is that I took a vacation day, and Maureen, Dave ([livejournal.com profile] filkerdave), Ben, and I went to the zoo. We were all late, but met at the appointed place, with a bit of help from a zoo employee who pointed out to me and Ben that there were subway delays.

Once gathered, we headed for the okapi, stopping only to watch the cheetahs.

Someone told us that the okapi was hiding in the corner of her exhibit, and we decided we could wait. A few minutes later, her head appeared.

Maureen was delighted. We watched the okapi eat, with the weird and wonderful blue tongue that okapi and giraffes have, and eventually she came forward and we got to see at least half an okapi.

We watched the okapi for a long time before going on to giraffes, and lunch, and many other animals. Maureen said "I've seen an okapi, I can die happy", but first she got to see a tapir being active and even swimming below the surface--there's something pleasing about watching an animal under about three inches of water. We went to the children's zoo for lemurs and the fennec, and visited the bats in the World of Darkness, and generally saw more than I usually have the energy for in one afternoon.

And Maureen kept saying what a good zoo it is, and Ben and I were delighted--it's on both of our lists to show visitors, and a place we each spend a lot of time.

And the baby crane is looking far less like a baby, though she still sits with her feet stuck out in front of her: she has attractive light-brown feathers on her neck and head, not the gray and black of her parents, but no longer a newborn fuzz.

It was a perfect zoo day, warm and sunny, and wonderful to have Maureen give me a reason to take a random June day and go look at the animals.
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