I Think Their Tails are Made of Fireworks

On the 4th of July in 2004, Matt took me to the St. Louis Zoo and proposed to me.

Pretty much the best 4th of July ever. I love zoos, and I love him. And I love diamonds. Hard to beat, eh?

So this year, he took me to the Bronx Zoo and we saw animals, and then we went out with good friends.

To get myself back into the habit of posting here more often, I'm going to stretch out the pictures I took there all week.

The day was overcast and threatening to rain (yet didn't while we were at the zoo!) and so while I was anticipating a sweaty, nasty mess of people, it was actually not that crowded and not sweaty. A first for a zoo, I'm sure.

The first thing we spot when we go through the Asia Gate to get into the zoo are the peacocks! Who were thankfully strutting around and trying to attract the peahens.


Just looking around, trying to catch the eye of their potential mates.

Occasionally, they would turn around in place, making sure that all the peahens around got the best view of them - and making sure I saw how weird/awesome their backs looked:


I should have known - it takes a lot of structure underneath to make something look so ethereal.

Eventually they'd get tired and lower their plumage - and while the fully lowered plumage is pretty, the mid-stage feathers are so pretty, I wish I had a skirt that looked like them:


It makes you understand why people have been obsessed with them for hundreds of years. I want one - or 20 - for my own.

And, just as I was about to move onto the giraffes (which you may remember as an old favorite of mine), I noticed this peahen keeping watch over the peacocks.


Move along, she seems to be saying, you can't have any of them.