The St. Louis zoo

After a slow start this morning because I wasn't feeling well, I finally got myself over to the zoo, found a place to park, hiked in, and started walking. The zoo was really croweded because it was a Saturday, but there were some things worth seeing there.

The butterfly house was beautiful, and seeing all those delicate wings gracing the sky and the flowers was a true delight.

As much as I love the zoo I've been going to since I was a child, one of its big defects is the lack of hippos. I got a kick out of watching these river horses beat the heat in the water, and get mobbed by the fish in their tank.

My very favorite part of the whole day was watching two Indian elephants frolic and play in the pool of their enclosure. They looked so small since most of them was under the water, but I'm not sure that I would want to risk getting involved in elephant swimming... I was reminded again of how increadible God's creation is--the great variety, masterful design, and the sense of humor!

It took awhile, but finally I found the giraffes!

Something that's interesting to me is that as you travel, you are often struck with how different things here are from your home, but sometimes it's hard to put into words how they are different. Here in St. Louis everything is more hilly, and the houses are set very close together and manage to give an impression of much squareness. (Not that there is much variety of shapes when it comes to houses, but these ones just seem more square than normal. Don't ask me why!) I passed this fascinating Jewish cemetery on my way to Starbucks yesterday, and was struck by how different it is than the cemeteries back home.

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but it was packed very close, and almost all the markers were pillars or columns. I drove through a little bit of it yesterday, but as it was about to be locked up for the night I figured I shouldn't linger. I love exploring graveyards, and I find Jewish ones particularly fascinating.

Tomorrow we head back to Texas, and then I have less than 24 hours to get myself packed and turned around before heading to Dallas so I can fly out Tuesday morning. Let the roaming continue!