The Zoo

In another way to figure me out, you have to look at the zoo. I love going to the zoo. I guess it started at an early age in New Orleans, when we would go to the Audubon Park Zoo. It was a special time as a kid to see the animals that I had only read about in books. As I have grown older, I have been to several different zoos. It is a place to go to chill out. It is an oasis from the troubles of life. When I lived in Fort Worth, I used to go to their zoo, which was not too far from where I lived. In fact, when the wind was right, I could smell the zoo. Their zoo was not as pretty as others, but the animals seemed content, which led me to be content too. I went to the Berlin Zoo in 1973. It was more of a park, but it was located near the downtown area. I will talk about it more later, during my 35th anniversary memories on Europe coming up in about a week or so. Here in Greenville, there is a zoo. It is kind of small, but they have some nice animals, mostly either from the US or Africa. You can go through it in less than 30 minutes, and it is rather hilly, so be prepared for that. My favorite zoo is Riverbanks in Columbia. It is big. There are a lot of animals, and a good variety. My brother was responsible for getting the koalas there, by making overtures to Australia. When I was smaller, I had a "relationship" with Happy the Tiger who was the first resident of the zoo. Happy was the patron saint of the zoo, and all of the Columbia schoolkids knew Happy very well. Happy died and is buried at the zoo. There are bears, gorillas, giraffes, fish, birds, lions, monkeys, and so much more. The zoo is a happy place (pun intended). There used to be a polar bear. It would swim in its pond, and you could go down below the pond and see him through glass. One day, the glass broke. I am glad I wasn't there that day. The bear went away. They also have a garden at Riverbanks with flowers. It is very pretty. There are a lot of zoos I have not been to and hope to one day. I used to work at a zoo called Columbia Mall, but that's another story.