We return from the zoo!

I will look at these photos tomorrow. I really hope the one of the grizzly bear crapping came out–I can’t imagine doing a painting of it, but there are some shots that you just treasure for rarity value, if nothing else. I think I blew half a disk on the grizzly. He was very cool.

The zoo was smaller than I expected. A number of people had told me that it was quite a large zoo, but I think it was actually smaller than both Minnesota and Phoenix zoos. Nice exhibits, but generally pretty standard stuff. It was quite large enough for my feet, however–my Birkenstocks are comfy in the arch support, but the leather and I are not as happy together as we might be, which is why I am trying to limp with both feet (not all that effective.) There’s a long sheet of blister on the inside of both feet, and the sore, pea-under-the-mattress feeling of blisters under the thick callus at the heel. As is usual when I have a camera in my hand, I was completely unaware of this until the very end. The sight of a cool animal (or more likely in zoos, a cool animal’s butt) keeps me from noticing that I am walking the skin off my feet until much later. And since my discomfort fades, but my photos and thus paintings will last much longer, I am just as glad for that.

Next time, I think I’d go during the week–stroller traffic was pretty savage, and a few of the interiors were made impassable by multi-stroller pile-ups.

I should do a series of careful wildlife portraits of charismatic animal butts. I have so many on film. (I’m sure somebody’s done it already, but it’s tempting.)

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