Wednesday 30 April 2008

We all go to the zoo

Took Shark, Tiger and Squirrel to Linton Zoo, in Cambridgeshire. We track down a snow leopard, black panther, hornbill, lemurs, owls, spiders and two zebras, which is not bad going in the pouring rain and mud. While we are there, Mil, mum to Izzy, rests against the fence and says laughingly to the girls, What did you do at school today? And then she supplies the answer, We fed pink blossom to a baby tapir! and for a moment, the tears stop and I laugh.

I could of course recall the misery of the ridiculously long journey to get there, the constant rain lashing against the windscreen on the potholed country roads without signposts, the inexplicable trust I place in the SatNav woman on the single track lane, the relief and panic I feel when we get there, seconds past the workshop we're booked into, the frustration of the inevitable fight between Tiger and Shark, inches above the watching red legged tortoise, the pain of Squirrel weeping, the sudden panic when the lion runs towards Tiger and in my mind pops the absurd thought Is the fence tall enough? as my heart jumps and I leap in front of her, then the freezing hail, the irritation of another low-level education talk ('Have you ever heard the word extinction?') and the constant arguments all the way home before a fight breaks out on the lawn just before bedtime and it looks like the Wars of the Roses all over again.

But I won't think of that. Because today at school we fed pink blossoms to the baby tapir.

5 comments:

Brad said...

Are we talking the English War of the Roses or the Michael Douglas & Kathleen Turner version ?

I hope that wasn't you & Dig out on the lawn.

the mother of this lot said...

See - some days it's all worth it.

Not many, I admit. But some.

Michelle said...

I saw your name on the list (not sure why I keep being sent things. Possibly to show me what I'm missing?). It's a long way from us let alone you! The drive must have been awful. You do realise you can drop by here if you're ever passing don't you? We'd love to see you.

Grit said...

hi brad, fortunately we are talking proper english blood and guts strewn about the grassy fields and not some hollywood movie. and are you americans really trying to steal our wars of the roses now? cheek!

hi motl, you are quite right, some days bring surprising moments, and to get those we do not have to read letters of complaint from the school, nor get kids up at 7am every morning.

hi michelle, that is very kind, do you do unannounced, hungry, wet and screaming?

Michelle said...

I've certainly done 3 out of those 4 and I'm sure towels, hairdryers and a change of clothes could sort the 4th out too.

Prob best to ring/text first to make sure we're in.