I am in DC visiting my darling daughter. While she toils sway at her job I’ve been sightseeing and tackling minor plumbing repairs.

We had a gale Wednesday night (while there were near blizzard conditions at home) with the wind gusting to 50 mph, whistling clear through the house. The next day was sunny and cold and I headed to the National Zoo, which is only a short walk.

I was skeptical at first. I walked through several exhibits and the only thing I had to show for it was a lonely goldfish in a salamander pool.

Many of the Asian animals were on holiday, like wild kingdom snowbirds. The elephants were nowhere to be seen. The gibbons were gone. The lemur island was vacant.

The red pandas were off doing hanky panky (the official term ) to breed. My main quest was the Giant Pandas and luckily they stuck around. I didn’t see the newest addition to the family but can observe her anytime via webcam. Well not anytime. I don ‘t see her in the picture tonight.

I saw one Panda outside and the other chowing down on bamboo inside.

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My day was complete.