A Couple of Strangers

After a quick cup of coffee, we drove to St. Pete to meet my son, Tristan and his friend, Ramsie. They had driven up from Miami last night with a couple of unusual passengers. Ramsie is employed as a zookeeper at the Miami Zoo and had promised to do a presentation to our grandchildren’s school. The children were expecting to meet Baby, the Amazon green parrot and Stripe, the Madagascar python.

Just the drive up was a miracle because my son is terrified of snakes. Stripe was in a large Rubbermaid container which was duck-taped closed. Even so, I am totally amazed he made it without a wreck. Ramsie admonished him: it’s all in your head. Yeah, that’s right. Man-up, Tristan. And he did! They also brought Lily, Tristan’s English bulldog. Isn’t she cute?

The first presentation was to the fourth grade. Baby can imitate animals, sing songs, knock on the door and swing upside down. Ramsie told them that he loved applause, and the more the kids applauded, the more Baby would perform. The kids went wild. Then out came Stripe. Tristan hid outside the door. Stripe was impressive, let me tell you, but the kids loved him, too. Ramsie said they could all touch him if they used their two fingers to stroke him. Here’s Lauren having a turn. Even Graham and Ellie were mesmerized.

We headed back to the house for some lunch, helped the kids with their homework, and left around 4pm for home. Fun day.