Pandas are a Myth

I have walked 8 miles in a zoo and I have still not seen a panda.  

This past October, Jon and I visited the famed San Diego Zoo.  The zoo is huge. I spent most of my childhood in Southern California, and while I can remember my way through Disney Land and Knotts Berry Farm with eyes shut, the San Diego Zoo is largely a mystery to me. I vaguely remember going to the zoo once when I was a small child and I have an impression of elephants from that trip.  I honestly think that any interaction with elephants leave an impression. 

The one thing I forget about California is how everything is built into a hill, or around a hill or at the bottom of a hill.  The zoo is no different. The habitats for the animals were amazing.  After seeing a Capybaras, I am positive they are really ROUS  (Rodents of Unusual Size) from Princess Bride.  I learned all about the spray range of lions, and that male hippos are the super duper poopers of the animal kingdom. 

As we walked up the hill and then back again to check out various exhibits, we attempted to see the pandas. The line for the pandas never wavered in intensity.  We attempted so many times to see the pandas that we began to believe there were no pandas. The  pandas were a myth.  You can’t convince me they have pandas in the zoo, since I didn’t see them. 

As a consolation prize for the lack of pandas in my life, Jon bought me a stuffed animal of the Red Panda.   I am convinced that the pandas are a myth and the red panda is really a fat tree fox.   In fact I have name my stuffed animal Foxy. Jon, of course, is not indulging my nonsense, and does not acknowledge Foxy and calls him Mr. Pandaman. 

I feel like there should be a moral to the story about the lack of pandas in my life. I might just be grasping at bamboo right now. Click here for a Sifle & Olly video about the majestic beauty and talents of the mystical creature, the panda.