Visons at the Zoo

So, I was at the zoo with my daughter yesterday.

Brookfield Zoo’s pretty great, as far as zoos go. We’re members, and big fans.

My daughter’s two, and her zoo needs are pretty simple. A couple of animals she MUST see, picked out of the air at random as far as we can tell.
Then a carousel ride, and on to the Family zoo building, to see the kitty cats and the lemurs...


Anyhow, yesterday it was kangaroos (We've been reading Winnie the Pooh...), so we watched kangaroos lay around in the grass for awhile, where they stubbornly refused to get up and hop over to us even though my daughter was imploring them to do so.

Then we headed to the large carousel in the middle of the zoo.

As we awaited our turn, she informed me that she wanted to ride on the zebra, the penguin, not the penguin, and the peacock.
We got to the peacock, she found out it was a bench and she couldn’t stand up and hold onto the peacock’s head, and we were off again…

Once firmly ensconced on the lady bug, we began to move.

This is the lengthy description part of the entry, so pay attention.

We’re on the inside of the carousel, closest to the center.
There are mirrors placed close together, all around the center of the carousel.

So, as we begin to move, you see yourself in the mirrors.

BUT: they’re angled a little goofy, so you actually only see yourself in every OTHER mirror.
You also end up seeing the person in front of you in every other mirror.
You, them, you, them, you….

You still with me?

Ok.

So, there I am, standing behind my two year old daughter, making sure she doesn’t fall off. She’s got hair in her face and a slightly nervous grin, but she’s enjoying herself.

The person in front of us is a girl, maybe…11-12 years old. Same color hair as Fiona, tied back in a pony tail.
She’s sportin’ blue plaid Bermuda shorts, and black Chuck Taylors.
I’m impressed with her fashion choices.

As we continue to go around, and I watch the mirrors, it hits me.

There’s my daughter, holding on tight with daddy standing behind her, there’s a cool lookin’ girl about 10 years older, all by herself , not quite old enough to be bored with the carousel yet….
Two year old with daddy
12 year old
Two year old…

Anyhow, unless you’re completely unsalvageable, you get the picture.

And I found myself getting caught up in the moment a little bit, getting the tiniest bit choked up, checking to make sure that there really was a girl on the animal in front of us, and not just a mirage in the mirror, a vision of things to come.

So the ride ends, and the mirage looked and sounded solid enough, as she got off her mount and tromped off. And I gave my daughter a little extra hug as I carried her off the carousel.

“I’m hungry, daddy.”
“Crackers, or cranberries?”
“Crackers!”
Crackers it is, darlin’. Whatever you want.