February 28, 2010 - A Zoo of a Day

A few days ago, a moment of reality hit me that really made me sad. In Georgia's 19 weeks of life, she has not really spent many moments outside. There have been no birds singing for her, no trees swaying for her, no grass stains on her clothes or the feel of grass tickling her toes, no breezes blowing the fuzz on her head. Other than dashes to and from the car, thanks to our outrageously cold winter, Georgia has spent most of her life staring at the four walls of various buildings around town. Talk about wintertime blues. So that was it. Today's trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo was planned. So within minutes we went from the frozen life in Nebraska...

... to a humid, warm dream world of a tropical rain forest. The humidity hugged us like a warm blanket, instantly fogging up glasses and camera lenses, but we didn't care for a moment. We found summer in the harshness of a frigid winter.

And Georgia just couldn't take her eyes out of the up position. What transfixed her so? Trees. Our little girl has never seen green, wise, beautiful trees. And now the green of them was suddenly so lush you could taste it in the air and on your tongue. Oh how she stared at those trees.

We listened to waterfalls and watched the water play and splash over each rock on its fall to the earth below. We spied darting, flirting fish in the pools below the falls.

We looked at brilliantly colored birds that would make rainbows blush with shame.

And for a minute, the fresh, unknown bombardments on each and every one of Georgia's senses grew a little overwhelming. So we found a quite bench cradled in the roots of a large tree and Georgia and her daddy just sat and cuddled. It wasn't long though before she was again peeking out from daddy's grasp and staring at everything that surrounded her.

And as we left the zoo today, even the cold felt a little warmer, the sun a little closer and Spring must be nearby. I swear Georgia agreed with her soft, sweet snores from inside her stroller as we left that green island in the middle of all this white.