Lions and Tigers and … Racehorses?

While at the Los Angeles Zoo last week my big zoom lens finally gave up the ghost.  The auto-focus had been acting up for quite a while but it refused to work at all at the Zoo, so I had to buy a replacement.  It is exactly the same lens; I wish I could afford to upgrade to a faster one but fast, long lenses are way out of my price range.  This one has served me well since 1993, so I expect the new one will have a long life as well.

Here is the main reason we went to the L.A. Zoo:

Zenyatta on the carousel

Ann and Jerry Moss (owners of my favorite racehorse, Zenyatta) donated the money to build a new conservation carousel at the Zoo and they included carousel horse portraits of three of their best racehorses.  Of course, I had to go ride Zenyatta!

Now I can truly say I have ridden Zenyatta

Yes, there were animals at the Zoo as well.  Despite my struggles with low light and having to manual focus with a handheld long lens, I managed to get some decent photos.  Here is a koala enjoying a meal of eucalyptus leaves.

Koala noms

This fellow was either depressed, very tired or recovering from a hangover.  Whatever the reason for his interesting posture, he certainly brought a smile to my face!

Depressed koala?

The zebras were all dozing in the sun.  One was flat on his side, one was standing up and this one was being adorable all curled up like cat.

Portrait of a zebra

Flamingos are beautiful, big birds but boy, do they STINK! Some brilliant person put a restroom on the hill just next to the flamingo pond (we thought the plumbing was bad, but it was the flamingos).  Admire from a distance! (The birds, not the restroom; no one admires a restroom …)

Feeding flamingos

The new tiger cubs were out!  Mama was sacked out (probably worn out by the kids) but the boys were having a great time playing with a log in a clump of bamboo.  Unfortunately, they were hard to photograph because they are so well camoflaged. I did get one good shot of one brother telling the other to BACK OFF!

Playing tiger cubs

It was getting dark by the time we reached the lion exhibit so my photos aren’t that great, but I did manage to get one of the lioness taking a bath and caught her tongue in mid slurp.

My, what a big tongue you have, Ms.Lion!

Related articles

• LA Zoo Carousel of Endangered Animals (mygrandmasue.wordpress.com)

Feline Holiday Decorating Tips

Holiday decorating in a house with five cats in it is not easy.  There are only about 2 places in the entire house that cannot be reached by felines and one of those is the ceiling.  This severely limits where we can decorate and what we can decorate with.  After much trial and error (note: decorating a tree with only unbreakable or paper ornaments saves on cleanup of broken ornaments but still results in a tree with no decorations on the bottom third) we have reduced our decorations to:

• A mini (2 1/2′) tree that gets hidden in the bathroom at night to protect it

• A few tree ornaments that will stand up on their own scattered on the mantel
• Some glass balls hung from the decorative metal leaf sculpture above the mirror over the fireplace

• A wreath hung on the outside of the screen door

And of course, nothing in my life would be complete anymore without a little Zenyatta:

We also got a Christmas cactus that sits on the mantel during the day and on the bathroom counter at night (because apparently the first thing a cat thinks to do when encountering a new plant is eat it):

The cactus and the tree both go into protective custody in the bathroom at night, mostly because of THIS creature:

Pippin

Don’t be fooled by the innocent act; he is deviously smart and has the power of levitation as well.

Long Live the Queen!

I opened the L.A. Times this morning and, as always, turned first to the Sports section on the off chance there was an article on racing.  There, just below the masthead, was a teaser for an article on page 10: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dwyre-zenyatta17-2010jan17,0,2904380.column?track=rss

For a moment, I could not believe my eyes: Zenyatta was going to race again!  It’s hard to explain why this news made me so happy.  It’s not just that she is a champion racehorse, undefeated in 14 races (so far).  Her popularity with fans far and wide, including me, rests not so much on what she does during a race as in what she does before and after.  Her running style is dramatic and breath-taking, dropping back to the tail end of the pack early in the race and then simply inhaling her opponents with a stretch run that is second to none, but even if she raced in a less eye-catching style she would still be a fan favorite.  Why?  Because this big beautiful athletic mare radiates with joy each time she walks over the the track.

In the paddock before the race, she struts her stuff, showing off to the other horses and the people gathered at the rails.  ”Look at me,” she seems to say.  ”I am beautiful and graceful and made to run.  So hurry up and let’s get out there and have some FUN!” While the other horses walk sedately in the post parade, Zenyatta is practicing her dressage moves: the Spanish walk, piaffes, side passes and other intricate steps that some horses take years to learn to do under saddle, which she does naturally for the sheer joy of it.  This is a horse who loves to run, whose sole purpose in life is to show off her talents and be adored.  She is happy, and her happiness rubs off on all those around her.

After the race, she canters back to the winners’ circle, hardly drawing a deep breath and looking ready to take part in the next race on the card.  She is led into the winners’ circle to have her picture taken and suddenly the pawing hoof stills and she poses, stock still for the first time since she has left the barn.  As soon as the photos are done, she begins to move again, so full of life and boundless energy that she can’t keep still any longer.  Then she walks back to the barn, with a spring in her step that is usually lacking in a horse who has just run a race.

So, this is why the news that this mare will continue to race thrills me to the bone.  I will get to vicariously experience her joy again.  Long live the Queen of Racing and long may she reign!