Back Porch

I'm furloughed from work today. One Friday every pay period. This morning Sarah and I went to the zoo. The air was so muggy and close we were both dripping with sweat minutes into the park. The animals lay sleeping in shade or had disappeared entirely into their cages. The heat was so thick and close you knew it would storm later. Now we are home and showered and changed. I'm sitting on the back porch watching torrential rain from a black sky. The peals of thunder are very close. The lightening is shock flashes that illuminates everything at no greater distance than the yard. The air is so cool Sarah made us coffee. I'll sit here, just at the edge of the mist on the wind, and drink coffee and read. But not before reminding myself that this porch is my favorite place in the world.

Woo Hoo Zoo!

Zoo digs in vs. UAMS over the old Ray Winder ballpark. I hope the zoo prevails. That land is a city park. No need to turn it into asphalt acreage, no matter no great a hospital is next door.

The Little Rock Zoo could use the expansion too. For a long time it was like a period piece. When I went to the zoo as a child the structures were all basically untouched from when they went up in the 1930s with mortar and native Arkansas stone, courtesy of Roosevelt and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Having that all unchanged for so long gave the park a quaint atmosphere. But the cages, though they looked impressive to my six year old eyes, reflected a different age in standards, and the zoo lost its accreditation a few years back. Instead of plowing under everything they could, the zoo's renovations have brought things up to date without losing the flavor of the old park. Now they are fully accredited and looking to expand. Let's let them.