Spencer Jack Did Not Go To The Fort Worth Zoo With Me On Saturday

That is Spencer Jack in the picture, taken yesterday at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Spencer Jack took his mom, Jenny, to the zoo to meet his aunt, that being my eldest sister, and his namesake, that being my ex-wife.

Behind Spencer Jack is part of the African Savanna exhibit. When the African Savanna opened in 1980 it was the first of its kind, won awards and spawned similar exhibits in other zoos.

Only the Bronx Zoo in New York City has won more Best National Exhibit awards from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums than Woodland Park Zoo.

My sister had not been to Woodland Park Zoo since the exhibits went natural. I don't think she'd been there since back when Bobo the Gorilla was the big attraction.

I forget when, exactly, but back in either the late 60s or early 70s there was a massive bond issue in the Seattle zone called Forward Thrust. Voters approved all sorts of things. Like building the (now dead) Kingdome, fixing up Pike Place Market, upgrading Woodland Park Zoo, building water treatment plants on Puget Sound and Lake Washington, that returned those bodies of water to their former salmon supporting clean glory, and I forget what else.

The voter's rejected building a rail transit system. That is now seen as a big mistake that only started to get rectified in the 1990s.

My sister takes off for Alaska next week, with Denali National Park as one of her destinations. I don't know if she took Spencer to the Northern Trail exhibit yesterday. It is made to look like a trail in Denali National Park. My last visit to Woodland Park Zoo was soon after that exhibit opened in 1994. I remember coming face to face with a big black bear, underwater, and being a little startled.

I've only been to the Fort Worth Zoo once. I did not find it a very pleasant experience.

I remember my first year in Texas some friends had friends visiting from Washington and they took the Washingtonians to the Fort Worth Zoo. I remember one of them verbalizing being amazing at some of the tackiness, mentioning one thing in particular, saying something like, "They have ad signs all over, that'd never fly in Seattle, things like Cheetah Exhibit Sponsored by Cheetos."

I remember being appalled by the aquarium. It smelled really bad and had all sorts of sea critters roaming around in one big tank.

I've Got Me A Banjo Strumming Giraffe Mulling Asparagus Eating Gourmet Nephew

I thought my having a young nephew days were long behind me.

And that I would never have a niece.

As I often am, I was wrong about never having a niece. Or another nephew. Or two.

I currently have two new nephews and a niece. David Jay, Theo John and Ruby Jean.

That is David in the picture, recently at Woodland Park Zoo, in Seattle, where he met his first giraffe.

Today David's mom, my sister, told me a very amusing David story. I told my sister we must start getting video documentation of my new nephews and niece.

Below is my sister's tale about David.....

David has taken to watching videos most nights while we put the babies to bed. A few days ago, I introduced a Sesame Street one called Elmo’s favorite country songs or something like that.  Anyhow, one of the first scenes is a guy playing (Stephen Foster's) "Oh Susanna," on his banjo.  David then turned every possible toy into a banjo. So yesterday, I took him to a toy store and he marched up to the counter and asked if they had banjos. Sure did. He was so happy. He has been carrying it everywhere since, strumming on it and singing, "Now Don’t You Cry For Me, I’m Going To Alabama With A Banjo On My Knee."  Except he says “Alabanjo” instead of Alabama. It is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. His thumb, that he strums with, got a blister which popped yesterday. My son has a banjo related injury.  On top of that, he picked out lemon yogurt at the store yesterday and dipped his grilled asparagus in it at dinner. The kid kills me!!!!

I really need to meet my new nephews and niece. I am a great uncle. In more ways than one.