3:00 snapshot #1192

The oldest exhibit at the zoo (1912) is this giant aviary, which currently houses our pair of Andean condors, Tito and Inti.

3:00 snapshot #1193

This winter, every two weeks the Zookeeper Association has been watching movies in the Tropical Forest Hippo Theater. Lately there's been consensus: someone will mention a movie and enough people will chime in with enthusiasm that I feel good about declaring that the movie that we'll watch. No such consensus existed last time, so I gathered a few suggestions: The Blues Brothers, Serenity, Mom and Dad Save the World, Grosse Point Blank, and something I can't remember right now. Serenity was way in the lead when someone (my vice president) suggested The Hunger Games. Being the wishy-washy people pleaser I am, I added it to the list of contenders, and even added Anchorman, based on another person's suggestion.

There were equal numbers of votes for Serenity and The Hunger Games when I brought the issue to vote at the chapter meeting. One complaint I heard from a Serenity supporter was that The Hunger Games was too long. I asked the assembled at the meeting, and those that had seen it refuted the charge. Okay fine (full disclosure, I love Serenity, rated it 5 stars, but I've seen it many times and haven't yet seen The Hunger Games, so I cast my weight in that direction) the decision has been made.

I was trying to attach a picture to the email inviting everyone to movie night when the snapshot alarm went off.

The damn movie (which we'll watch this Tuesday) is 142 minutes long. I'll never trust that lot again.

3:00 snapshot #1194: Very early blizzard photos

3:00 yesterday afternoon was very early in the historic blizzard of 2013. I had been sent home from work at 11:30, and wind-blown icy snow had been falling for some time, but it wasn't adding up to much.

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3:00 snapshot #1195: the actual blizzard

Okay, so I didn't really take any good pictures of the blizzard itself, but lots of other people did, including Beloved Wife. Click that link if you want to see what 2 feet of snow around my house looks like. At three o'clock we were starting to watch "Julie and Julia," very possibly the only Nora Ephron movie I will ever see. Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci were amazing in the half of the movie that mattered.


While I was shoveling out the walk during the blizzard, my neighbor came by with his snowblower and offered to clear our driveway. How should we repay him?