Standing On The Other Side Of The Glass

I did something very ordinary today. And it felt completely unusual.

I went to the zoo.

Yes, they still have zoos. Here in Utah, I’m not sure if our zoo, Hogle Zoo closed during the pandemic. I’ve been to the zoo before. But, it’s been a long time. And with the past year experience, it feels like it was a 100 years ago.

Of course, it’s different. Everything is different now. I don’t know if anything will ever be normal again. Unless this is what we decide is normal. You have to buy your tickets in advance. And when you buy them, you get a “window.” And if you miss your window, you don’t get to go to the zoo that day.

Our window was 4:30pm. The zoo closes at 6:00pm. We live about an hour South of Emigration canyon east of Salt Lake City where the zoo is located. We were trying to coordinate 4 car loads of people. Car one was me, my lovely wife and my son. Car two was my daughter and her two kids. Car three was another son and his girlfriend. The last car was another daughter, her husband and their four kids.

My lovely wife should have been the project manager. She managed it beautifully. We all arrived mostly around the right time. We had to wait for my son and his girlfriend. I stood out front and waited while the rest of the family sat in a nearby pavilion. As I was waiting a mother and her little boy walked by,

But, I want to go today.

We can’t go to the zoo today. It’s sold out. We’ll go tomorrow.

Sorry kid, the zoo is sold out.

Even though the zoo is mostly outside, we were all masked up. The various subgroups in our group wanted pictures. So, each group got together and posed for pictures. Masks and all.

I didn’t even smile. Or maybe I did. You’ll never know from the pictures.

It was delightful. Three kids and six grandkids just wandering around looking at the animals behind glass, or gates. We skipped the primate house. Not on purpose. We just ran out of time. I almost expected that if we had gone in to look at the primates we might see a family of four, wearing masks sitting around the TV in their living room. . .waiting. Trapped.

It was a wonderfully ordinary afternoon that was extraordinary for it’s very banality.

I’ve missed those days.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

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