Oh my, what a lot we fit into the days. Yesterday morning we went to the Atlanta zoo. My mom’s favorite animal is the giraffe, andI I found out we could feed them at the zoo. What we didn’t count on was that it was ‘Boo at the Zoo’ day, where every family in Atlanta brought their kids dressed in costumes to the zoo to see the animals and get candy. I’m not a fan of crowds, but these were the cutest crowds ever!

The parents didn’t disappoint, either.

Some families all dressed to a theme, like all would be Incredibles, or all would be Super Mario and like that. It was a bit chaotic, though, for mom was using an electric scooter, and the kids and parents both were having so much fun darting around that mom was afraid of running someone over.

We did not get to feed the giraffes, as the attendants had to wait for the animal to walk over and put its head in the feeding area. That did not happen while we were there. I’ll post some pix of the animals we saw:

Yes, that orangutan liked to put that big paper bag over himself. It was a pretty fun morning in spite of the crowds.

After lunch we went to Barbara’s family gathering. We chatted and drank and ate, and caught up a little, for how can you catch up on 30 years of life? I kept marveling at the circumstance that brought us back together, a whirlwind of coincidence and tragedy. I didn’t know Kathy or Charlene very well, way back when, but Mary and Mark and Bob were constant companions. Dan and his son arrived and chatted and ate, and then we, out on the deck, could hear a saxophone and keyboard playing in the living room. Everyone in the family knew at least one instrument, and they all had one with them. In lieu of her drums, Kathy found a cardboard box and some silicone spatulas. Mark was noodling on the saxophone, Bob was tinkling the keyboard, Charlene came around the corner with a French Horn (!!), and someone scrounged up a flute for Mary. I was unclear whether she was playing hers or someone else’s. I think she said it had been more than a decade since she’d played, but she picked it right back up. It brought back all those memories of Mary playing flute when we were kids. Of Mark saying something about hearing the music in his head when he played whichever instrument he was working on that day. Of Bob practicing. A lot. Then Dan got his Martin guitar out of its case and began playing along. They started with When the Saints go Marching In, and tried to find other songs that they all knew, or knew well enough to fake. They did several, names of which I can’t remember. Sometimes Dan would sing through his grief while crying, sometimes he could sing without crying. He has a generous voice, full of feeling and fun. He always liked for people to join him and would try to encourage you with nods and smiles if you knew the words. I thought how perfect it was that he and Barbara had found each other nearly two decades before. I was missing Barbara, knowing that she would’ve had so much fun with this group, on this night. She played piano and dulcimer, and maybe other instruments, and had a huge heart, and led a chorus in the independent and assisted living houses they lived in. It was a hugely popular program. I kept thinking of this musical bunch of humans she (and her first husband) had created and how they were honoring her by playing, and I had tears running down my face while watching. When Charlene and Mary weren’t playing, they would sing, making harmonies with Kathy. What a night. What a family! Rest in peace, Barbara!