Happy Valentine's Day! I Love Zoo and Zebra Too!

San Francisco is in between February rain storms, and today was crisp and sunny. We decided to take advantage of the great weather and get outside, expecting the rest of the weekend to be windy, cold and rainy. Hannah was ready to get out and stretch her legs, and she made the most of her SF Zoo trip. She chased her shadow; she stopped to check out her reflection in (and sample the water quality of) every puddle, and she even got a few good hearty jumps and splashes in before dad nabbed her up to piggy-back ride en route to dryer land...











She picked a flower (and tasted it too), and got to eat crackers with her friend Magnus by the big brass hippopotamus. She loved running and yelling in the tunnels and going in and out of the doorways.
Oh yeah... the animals... the animals were cool... but they got in the way of all the moving around and investigating there was to do, so we're not sure if she even noticed them. Encountering the "raft" of penguins swimming around and around in their waddlish waters seemed to merit a momentary pause of acknowledgement, as did the stately lion basking in the afternoon sunshine... After all the commotion Mom and Dad were making about the "Momma and baby giraffe" she also stopped moving for a few moments to watch skittish and gangly baby g nibble on freshly cut tree branchlings and keep close to her mamma's stratospheric frame....
Hannah reminded us that the most important things in life are not necessarily caged wonders, but are rightly the compounded joys of running and roaming and freely experiencing the miracle of life. Hopefully she'll keep teaching us the clear way and the true path. No roses on this day, save the one that picked us. 'Hana,' the Japanese spelling for Hannah, means 'beautiful flower.' Peace and happiness to all, and have a very happy Valentine's Day.