And long day was long. Let me walk you through.
I went to the Sertoma Butterfly House today. I now have
butterfly book darts. Also, I was being brave and getting close to the small
spider enclosures they have along one wall. The first one had a Mexican Red
Velvet Tarantula in it. There were a few other species and then one of them had
these Madagascar hissing cockroaches. They’re kind of cool-looking.
Also, a butterfly walked on me. Not just walked on me but
stood on me, tasted me for about a solid minute and then continued to stand on
me. And it continued to stand on me until my mother got him to stand on her
long enough to put him on a nearby plant. So that was awesome. There were so
many of these bright blue butterflies in there. Every time I’d see one, I’d
think ‘Hello, Absolum’ because I am a geek.
It’s not just a butterfly house, though. They have a small
aquarium attached. With a touch tank. And lionfish – I love lionfish. I couldn’t
pet the lionfish but I did get to pet the stingrays and one of those little algae-cleaner
fish – I’m not sure what they’re called. (I know they have an actual name but I
can’t look it up because the internet at the hotel is down. Again. So, if you’re
reading this, either it came back up or I posted it from a Barns and Noble. Or
possibly a McDonald's.)
Then we popped into World Market again. I now have two more
bottles of Blood Orange Soda and I am happy about that. I also found these
little square violet mints that I used to get from my father. I haven’t had
them in years and I’d completely forgotten about them.
Since it was getting on toward noon, we decided we would
stop for lunch at Cracker Barrel, which is a nice place, really. It’s country
but not annoyingly western. It’s more like old-world, out on the plains kind of
country. We both just got an egg sandwich with tomato and fired apples in a
little dish on the side. Just good, cozy food.
But this is the part most ten-year-olds would hate me for.
We went to Cold Stone Creamery, a place which neither of us
had ever been to. Guys. I can’t even … I had a small scoop of Oatmeal Cookie
Batter. It was rich enough that I was feeling slightly ill by the end of it but
it was good enough that I didn’t care about that.
Then we went up to the Great Plains Zoo. It was hot and
sticky outside but they have Amur Tigers there. Also, it’s connected to a
museum (which is awesome and much cooler than outside) so we wandered around
there for a while before we walked out into the actual zoo.
A man named Bill walked up to us in said museum (while we
were looking at eggs, if I remember rightly) and mentioned that he saw we had
some tattoo work. We do – both I and my mother have full sleeves – and we get
asked about them quite a bit. He put a hand on each of our shoulders and said ‘You
know what I think about tattoos?’ We shook our heads. ‘I think they’re a
beautiful artistic expression. And you are beautiful people.’* Then he hugged
us both.
So that was new.
We walked around outside and stared at a giant anteater and
a tiger for a while, hanging out in the shade, before we ventured out into the
rest of the zoo. We managed to catch the train around the one side of it and
then walked around the rest. I really wish I’d thought to bring my camera (it’s
usually in the car, not in the room so I spaced on it) because there were
giraffes. And giraffes are huge in
person.
There were also geese – gaggles of them – waddling around
the zoo so we fed them. Then Mum goosed one. Not really, but we touched them
without getting pinched, at least.
I managed to bruise my knees crawling through the ‘Turtle
Tunnel’. (Yes, I am almost twenty and no, I don’t care.) But that’s all fine
because I got to ride a camel. His
name was Cletus and they let me pet his head. *squee* Unfortunately, it made me
miss riding horses. I haven’t been riding in forever and I really want to go
again.
So that was my day. I am tired, I need a shower, and I’m
stupidly hungry even though nothing sounds good.
I’m going to go and maybe try to write for JulNoWriMo a
little bit until it’s time for dinner. I have so many ideas, guys, I just don’t
know what to do with half of them. I’m bouncing back and forth between
something original and a fan story right now – actually, several fan stories
right now.
I wonder if it’s something to do with all the stress lately?
I mean, I’m going to college and I really want to do the study abroad thing and
that’s stressful for a girl who’s never been out of his parent’s sight… I just mixed
my pronouns there. Huh. Well, I’m not fixing it. Welcome to my brain.
Really, I’m gonna go. This thing is about a thousand words
now and I really don’t need to talk that much.
Bye for now guys.
*This is somewhat paraphrased as I can’t remember exactly
what he said. I was something along those lines. We’ve since dubbed him ‘Crazy
Bill’. But, hey, if I have to be around crazy people, I’d rather them be crazy
like him. :)
