An unexpected Christmas

Dreamers

Time bandits, rushing wind, in the twinkling of an eye

Success in marriage depends on being able, when you get over being in love,
to really love. (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Seems like yesterday!
I love you!

O sister of mine

Do you remember ...

Mom and Dad would take us to see the "real" Santa. He had his own little house right by the train station where Dad worked. We stood outside in the cold...it never seemed long to me. Seems you were almost 2 here and I was 5. Aren't we so cute in our hats? I don't remember what I asked for. You were certainly brave sitting on his lap.

Christmas Eve we would all get in the car and go for a drive. Maybe Santa would come while we were gone. I remember the time it snowed...it was like a Christmas card. Our Dad drove slowly through the streets that were filling with snow. It was dark out...what was that? And there in the road with the lights from the street lamps falling on him was Santa! Dad pulled up a long side of him...Mom asked him where his reindeer were...He said they were several streets over, he was letting them rest. We said good bye to his "HOHOHO". We checked several streets for the reindeer, but alas, nothing.

However upon arrival home we found our presents under the silver tree (which was all the rage back then) and he had eaten the cookies and milk.

Our Mom always said she became a Santa believer that night and it was magical...

Yes sister and BabaHoohoo

There is a Santa.

The best thing about zoo lights was . . .

NOT the lights...after walking through the crush of people (worse than Disney in my opinion) but wait I digress...let me start at the beginning.

We were guests of the Fall Fairy and #2. We found a parking space in the last row...2 seconds later Wenna Woo and #1 showed up. We gathered everthing together. The weather was balmy for this time of year...yet we needed hats and gloves anyway. The two Bubbas got in their strollers and we headed toward the zoo. Thank heaven the Middle Rose said, "We are parked in Dolphin 31"...if she wouldn't have said that, I think we would still be looking for the car!

We made it through the entrance and took pictures with the various "animals", the big bad wolf, Frosty, Rudolph, a bear...and I cheekily said, "Are there real animals here?". We then veered to the left...it was now dark, the zoo lights were lighting the way.

"Oh look, the lion's den." "There's one", we said in an unimpressed voice. We pointed it out to the children. There on the ledge was a lion.

Then, from the left, entered THE KING OF BEASTS...he was so huge, I could not wrap my head around him. It was like being at the Grand Canyon for the first time and not being able to find any depth perception. He was magnificent! He sauntered across the den and laid down. His mouth opened. At first we did not hear, as sound travels slowly. Then, at least 12 times he roared his terrible roar, louder and louder each time. My Wild Blonde Boy pumped his fist in the air and yelled "That was AWESOME!" And...it was. Awesome was the perfect word. Part of me was afraid, this beast was so large and powerful, I felt he could leap across the chasm and maul all of us and go on his silent way. This is the King of Beasts...Handsome told the kids he was like ASLAN...and he was. "He is not a tame lion, but he is good."

THAT was the best part of zoo lights except for stopping and sitting on a half wall and enjoying snacks that both families had put together...(Duh, the grandma and grandpa had not thought of anything like that). We had creamy hot chocolate, water, coke, crackers, salami, muenster, gouda cheese and pretzels. It was quite nice.

I won't go in to how frazzled I was...keeping track of 5 kids in the dark and in winter coats (they all started to look the same and I mean all meaning the 3 million sixty thousand hundred other kids that were also stampeding through the zoo). This Grandma was a basket case. I felt that if you could look at my nerve endings, they would have appeared fried.

We settled down to watch the laser light show, a huge disappointment to me and Handsome, but the kids liked it.

We topped our night off with a visit through the tropical, steamy, hot and stinky monkey panarama. I could not take the heat so Handsome and I deserted...we did not get to enjoy the casanova gorilla. Apparently he was huge, and looked like he was praying as 3 lady gorillas perused him.

We told the kids Grandpa and Grandma had to get going. It felt like midnight in the garden of good and evil (it was only 6:15 pm). After many hugs and kisses and telling us to look for the carousel, we disappeared into the night. Feeling like salmon going upstream we managed to walk to the entrance/exit.

Then...find Dolphin 31...but everything says lion and gorilla. We walked and walked...my back, my feet (whine, whine). There, in the north forty was the dolphin section. We walked and walked somemore. All of the cars were black..."Push the button on the key fob." I said thinking I was so smart. Handsome had been doing that for some minutes. We determined we had gone too far. There was now gravel underfoot and Handsome said we were parked on the paved part. Turning around, walking some more he said..."See those lights flashing?" Finally I did and we got into the car.

Fifteen minutes later we were out of the lot and a slight drizzle had started. Incidentally, the zoo could take a lesson from Willow Creek on how to empty a parking lot!

The only way I would go back to zoo lights is if it was 32 degrees below zero and then I wouldn't go!

However, I would not have missed Aslan for anything. Thanks, for taking us!

The male is Zenda. The female is Isis. They have been at the zoo since 2008.
The roars come at sundown.
You can hear the sound for 6 miles.
I believe it.
Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah!
He is AWESOME!