Field Trip

Today we five -- Smiter, Mrs. Smiter, Smiter Jr, Smitrilla and Smitrinian, took a field trip to a nearby city, to see its zoo. The weather was hot, so we went early, but it was still quite crowded. We couldn't decide if the baby reindeer or the baby giraffe was cuter. The baby reindeer was definitely more shy. On the way there, in the early morning fog, we could see bedewed spider webs in the grass along the road. At one point, we passed a small meadow, with literally hundreds of webs on every tall weed and blade of grass. They were packed in so close together; we've never seen anything quite like it. We cheer their insectivorous ways, as long as they remain outside.

Trivia point of the day: The scientific name for the Asian Spectacled Eider is, apparently, "histrionicus histrionicus." To us, they seemed much more laid back than that, but then, we weren't trying to eat them -- it is bad form, at the zoo, I believe -- so perhaps their behavior was not truly representative...