Guys and Dolls

After living within walking distance of the place for four years, Carla and I finally became Brookfield Zoo Members, thanks to an anniversary gift from my parents.  Believe it or not, we'd only been once in the past four years and now since our membership began, we've already been twice. 

Last Sunday, after a nice brunch with friends and after I'd determined the Bears were a lost cause, we went to the zoo.  While it was our second visit, we'd forgotten our camera the first time, so it was Abby's first visit that we could document.  We got some nice shots on the carousel until that dreaded 'Low Battery' light came on.  I stowed the camera away to save those last dying volts in case we saw something extraordinary to photograph.  We did end up seeing something extraordinary, however, it had nothing to do with Abby.

We stopped by the rhino exhibit on our way to the exit.  As we approached, there was a guy there with a camcorder and a wheelchair-bound companion, he was explaining rhino behaivior to anyone who'd listen.  At first I thought maybe he was a helpful volunteer or employee, but once I noticed his civilian clothes, I determined he was merely a visitor.  I then noticed that his female companion wasn't moving much and that her skin tone was on the very pale side.  A closer look determined that his 'friend' was not human but either a mannequin or quite possibly a 'real doll' the likes of which I'd heard about but had never seen in the wild.  I quietly handed Carla the camera and instructed her to try a grab a shot or two with whatever juice remained in the digital camera's battery.  At one point he looked directly at the camera, so Carla quickly moved to grab a shot of the rhino.  She did eventually manage to get a distant shot of the man and his companion.

I don't know exactly what it was we saw and we didn't stick around long enough to make new friends but we did notice that this gentleman was kind enough to buy his gal a stuffed giraffe.  I challenge you to provide evidence of a more bizarre Sunday afternoon than the one we had.