A Field Trip to the Zoo!

I spent Saturday night sleeping under The Treehouse at the Philadelphia Zoo, right next to my son. It was a very cool field trip, and my son's cub scout troop, along with the troop out of Lindenwold led by Mrs. Bickerdyke, had a blast. We had the place to ourselves, and got a chance to see a special room closed to the public, filled with fascinating snakes and lizards. Each had a drawer-cubby all its own, and I saw one critter that was a combination of a snake and lizard. I also learned that an armadillo is a mammal. For almost half a century I could have sworn it was a reptile.

In the morning a docent, who looked a lot like an older Robin Hood, led us around the zoo. Richard explained that he started working at the zoo in the mid 70's and just retired. Here he was now volunteering as a docent, waking early on a frigid Sunday morning to take a handful of us scouts around the zoo. This gentle, smart man loved zoo-keeping, regaling us with stories of escaped critters, the resurgence of bald eagles, testosterone-saturated female lions with manes, and loads of kooky stuff. I thought of Poe's quote about how enthusiastic people bring a kind of eloquence to what they do.