Plotting his escape while seething about how much he hates straw.

Give me anything to sleep on...soft grass, fragrant banana tree fronds, luxurious moss, a Hasten's Vividus mattress from Sweden...anything but this friggin' straw.

Nose to nose with Pattycake, a Western Lowland Gorilla

I highly recommend pretending it's summer so you can take summer hours and happily visit one of your favorite places. Mine is the Bronx Zoo where I was literally the only person in the vast zoo other than the zookeepers and other staff. Headed off to the Congo Exhibit for a family reunion of sorts where I camped out with my camera and watched the antics of the gorillas (my hairier relatives) who didn't seem to mind my company. In fact, based on some of the images I got, quite the contrary. Pattycake was playing with one of her teen boys when she noticed me and came over. And just looked at me. I almost didn't want to raise the camera to take a picture because of the connection I felt.

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