This is the opening line to Simon & Garfunkel's 1967 number, "At the Zoo", a song that, without fail, plays in my head whenever I so much as think of going to the zoo. I just don't care much for the line, "...the elephants are kindly but they're dumb..."
Today I decided that we'd take advantage of the lower humidity and visit the National Zoo. It was a nice Sunday and it's free. I called up my friend Sam, my roommate for four years in college, who lives about a mile from there, to see if she was available. I drove in and she, Olive, and I walked to the Dupont Circle Dolcezza location. I'd never been to any of the newer shops, and I missed seeing the display of all of the flavors shown with some of the whole ingredients used - peach and avocado halves, chunks of 70% dark chocolate, basil leaves, etc. However, they made up for it with some flavors that I'd been yearning to try (just this morning I was hoping that one day they might have a blueberry gelato, and today was my day): a blueberry lemon thyme that was incredible. I sampled both a cucumber tarragon gin (strangely good and summery) and a plum (that tasted exactly the way a tart plum would taste if its flesh was frozen and pureed smooth). Frequenting this place makes me want to open up a little gelaterie of my own one day, or at least have a basement laboratory where I can concoct all sorts of intriguing creations. My friend, Krysta, gave me the idea of a mango Sriracha (Rob's favorite hot sauce) gelato, and on our way out of DC, I heard a chef on NPR talking about his gazpacho recipe that included a dollop of dijon mustard ice cream. Wow.
Sam's 30 weeks pregnant now with a boy - Grant. She held Olive, who sat perched atop her belly - a bond that, we hope, will carry over into adulthood. We have the highest hopes for this union. Besides, Buggy is already really taken with both Sam and Howard, and vice versa.
Olive and I walked to the zoo after Sam had to leave to pick up her mother - already a doting first-time grandmother - at the airport. Once there, we found many of the animals to be in hiding, seeking refuge from the 90-something degree day. I pushed Olive in the stroller, and she gurgled contentedly or slept. I'd been a bit anti-stroller for a while - up until this past week, really, as carrying her so close to my body in these temperatures was no longer pleasurable for either of us. I'd was done with peeling a soaking wet Olive, her face imprinted with folds from my shirt, from my chest and waiting for the front of my shirt to dry. The stroller is keeping us both dry and happy. We did get a good gander at a mother and baby gorilla, that we'd first seen during our visit at Thanksgiving, that I guess would now be considered a toddler. The great ape house was packed, mostly with a large group that seemed to be from an African nation. Olive was mesmerized by the din of the crowd, and possibly the stench of the ape house. I'm certainly looking forward to brining her again to the Pittsburgh Zoo, and have the inside scoop on the goings-on of the gorillas that live there.
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