Different every time

Another heat wave has hit the area. We are under an excessive heat warning that will last until at least tomorrow night, and we have turned our air on for the second time since we've been in this house. Thankfully it's working well.

Mainly we've been beating the heat by being inside. Calvin is taking a jump start swimming program at his swim school, so he has lessons every day this week, bright and early. At home today we did a lot of reading, resting, and drinking of fluids, and also did a stint running through the sprinkler, just to be outside for even a few minutes. It was 99 degrees.

Yesterday, when the high was only 92, before the heat descended, we headed back to the zoo to make sure Jon got to see the zoo babies before they got too big and lazy. The otters obliged, but the bears were between romping times when we were in that area of the zoo, and were still wisely napping in the shade the second time we tried. We did see the baby camel, though, and the baby chimp, and a polar bear blowing bubbles, an anteater trying to nap while his brother harassed him, and a baby robin taking a bath in the mister. And the carousel was back up and running. You see, the zoo is different every time. I will say, though, that my favorite time at the zoo is either spring or fall, when the temperatures are cooler and the animals more obliging.

Otter pups again

A bearded something, or a black beaded lizard, or possibly one of each

pig-nosed turtle

watching for alligators who were too smart and stayed under water where it was cool

polar bear blowing bubbles

Riding a Humboldt penguin

nudge, nudge, he's bored

Taking a bath. Some of the sweetest sights are not on the zoo map.

Summertime, and the livin' is easy

This weekend was the annual Ragtime Street Fair at Greenfield Village—good music, fun eats and drinks, and delightful entertainers—so yesterday we headed over late in the afternoon, wearing our summer fair finest, to take part in the music and festivities over dinner. The village, of course, was working as usual, so we watched them blowing glass, printing papers (where the printer took Calvin on as an apprentice for one run), and bringing in the chickens and other farm fauna for the evening. In addition to the usual stuff, though, there was a good old fashioned street fair, with homemade goodies and wholesome entertainment, like suspendered men riding crazy bicycles. We ate sausage and drank minted tea while sitting on benches, in the shade and watching the townsfolk (period actors) take part. We took in a ragtime piano contest, and a Gershwin comedy and dance review (my favorite), and we even got to see Teddy Roosevelt speak on his campaign trail ("Vote Roosevelt in '12!"). We watched the train, we ate blueberry pie. It was hot, but the evening, and the music, were delightful.

Calvin was invited to help make a print with the press.

I had no idea they had cell phones in the early twentieth century.

Teddy Roosevelt!

Rolling Sculptures

It's a tradition. This year we started with a family dinner at Jolly Pumpkin (of course), and enjoyed the cars in the cooler hours of the evening, closing down the show at nine. Calvin's focus this year was on hood ornaments, and he was drawn to every open hood, looking to see how clean the engine was, and sometimes trying to identify the type of engine. He's very good at identifying V engines, and even once found an in-line engine. He got to sit in one car, and check out the crank and the woodwork on a really old one.

Jolly Pumpkin

Obligatory happy car shot

Airplane hood ornament

A not so cowardly lion hood ornament

Calvin's favorite car of the night

Classic

Winged helmet hood ornament

Flying lady hood ornament

Sitting

Knight of the round table trunk ornament

Attacked by the ice in his glass

Nature Thursdays

What do you do when you know more than the naturalist giving the presentation, and you know that they are giving horrendously wrong and even inapporpriate information? I did and said nothing, and now I'm kicking myself. Our usual beloved naturlist was not with this morning and we were introduced to the person filling the summer internship position. She incorrectly named two species of bird, told the kids that owls couldn't turn their heads any more than a normal human, and encouraged the removal of eggs from nests belonging to invasive species (which actually she incorrectly identified as invasive when in reality they are native species that are just outcompeting some song birds fair and square, as far as nature goes). Even Calvin knew that she had been wrong when identifying the speckled robin as the female instead of the juvenile, but we both kept quiet during the program and talked about it together later. We decided that it had been polite not to interrupt, but that we probably should have at least questioned the suggestion to remove eggs from nests, because it's unfortunate that some parents and children went home with dangerous misconceptions about some species that live in our area. I will do the next best thing, though, and talk to the head naturalist about it.

We spent the rest of the day at the lake, eating a picnic lunch, swimming in the lake, reading in the shade, and going crazy in the splash zone. Summer is good stuff.

Zoo babies (and more)

Speaking of flexible summer days, today we dropped everything and headed over meet the new river otter pups just introduced on exhibit. Actually, our zoo has several babies this year, including a camel calf we did not get to see, and river otter pups and grizzly bear cubs, all of which were very entertaining while we were there. We had a chance to see the otter pups nursing, swimming playfully, and even tumbling down the slide in a head-over-tails ball of baby otters. We also watched them them follow and perfectly mimic their mother's every move in what could only have been a river otter's version of home (zoo) schooling. The lesson included swimming, looking for food, and waste elimination, and it looked quite a bit like follow the leader. One of them must have stepped out of line, though, because we actually saw his mother drag him by the scruff, under water, across the entire exhibit, then haul him out of the water onto the shore (he's as big as she is, mind you), and sit on him. We didn't see what got him into that trouble, but I think he's not likely to do it again.

The grizzly cubs were equally as precious. The three brothers were brought to the zoo late last year after their mother was killed by a poacher (story here), and they are immensely fun to watch. While we were there they swam, chased each other, and tumbled over and over a log that was in their pool. It was as though they were daring each other to be increasingly brave. There were other animals that we greatly enjoyed this trip, too, like the giraffe drinking from a spigot, the ostrich eyeing us warily from the shade, the penguins (of course), the polar bear who was just a glass width away, and some hoppity kangaroos. We ate lunch in the shade of a powerless carousel (the power still out in parts of the zoo from last week's storms), and even happened to spy some non-resident birds: black-capped night herons (adult and juveniles), and a red bellied woodpecker. Wildlife at the zoo, just imagine that.

We have gotten pretty good at spotting interesting wildlife, actually. I am a naturalist at heart, much of my college learning being focused on animals, their behavior, evolution, adaptations, and habitats, and Calvin has long taken part in seeking, finding, and quietly observing nature with me. Recently we have started to talk more in depth about what differentiates various types of life, like plants from animals, or mammals from amphibians, reptiles, or birds. A few weeks ago, partly following suggestions in BFSU, we talked at length about energy as the driving force behind life and about speciation, which really added to our enjoyment of all critter sightings while we were hiking on vacation, and the same can be said about today's sightings, both wild and not-so-wild (and one green heron sighting back in our own yard). Which means, I guess, that this only seemed like just another trip to the zoo, and that, in fact, brings me back around to what I was saying yesterday about learning and life fitting quite nicely together, quod erat demonstrandum.

Or, put more simply, we had a great time at the zoo today.

Baby river otters!

Little bumbles

Black-capped night heron being sneaky in the vulture enclosure

Black-capped night heron juveniles being sneaky (and avoiding their parents) in the ostrich and kudu enclosure

Animal watching...

People watching...

Grizzly cubs (including the little guy above)

Young polar bear

Adult polar bear

Sadly, a powerless carousel
American bison

Peacock

Little boy on an elephant sculpture

Red bellied woodpecker (from very, very far away, and very, very cropped in, but he's there)

Green heron flying over our yard at home