Because I don't have anything new, here's one from the Wash Post Magazine. I usually found the pandas at the zoo in DC kinda boring, because most often they were pretty inert, lazing around like high-contrast carpet samples. The one time I saw them up and about, of course, they were just adorable and I had to be restrained from climbing into the enclosure and hugging them to bits.
The tapirs are what get me. They are giant piebald creatures that seem 100-percent adorable.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing "old Alice".
ReplyDeleteI saw the pandas in D.C. but my memory is a lot like Alice's. They save their best performances for video.
That tabletop in the last panel--is that gamboge I see? No wonder the table looks fat.
ReplyDeleteAh, the taste of the railing in the Panda House...
ReplyDeleteJust when the spirit & humor of the this particular strip was about to sag, Dill comes in with a great punch line.
ReplyDeleteNot to take anything away from Alice (as if anyone could), Dill & Petey are the strip's greatest creations.
Keep up the good work.
A few years ago, my mother, sister and I were walking through the Milwaukee Zoo, eventually winding our way towards the polar bears. At this point in the trip, we were hungry and our feet hurt, yet ultimately hoped to see the polar bears swimming in the tank, their enormous paws pressed against the glass.
ReplyDeleteWhen we finally got there, our hearts sank into our shoes to discover a lone bear lazily sitting outside on a rock). For a while we stood and watched him, mentally willing him to jump into the tank. Then I spotted a small piece of licorice on the ground next to the fence; as a final, desperate gesture, I tossed it into the enclosure near to the bear. His eyes followed it as it landed.
Slowly, the bear walked toward the dirty piece of candy and scooped it into his mouth. Then, to the utter astonishment of me and my family, the bear got up and dove into the tank, as if deciding to reward us for breaking up the monotony of the afternoon.
I've never seen panda bears in a zoo, though.