MADELEINE MONDAY

The St. Louis Zoo has a big carousel with 64 painted wood animals. It's another stop on Ellie's don't miss list. Note that she chose a penguin.    

Birdbrains

I've never been impressed by penguins' intelligence. After all, so many of them live in Antarctica. The king and gentoo species here do. If one of the caretakers stands squarely in front of them they just stop, oblivious to other directions. It would be exciting if one of them made a break for it.      

Penguins On Parade

No, not the one on the television.

Well, who knew. Penguins have no fear of humans and the younger ones are quite curious. (Apparently the older ones would rather stay home and watch their friends on the telly.) The St. Louis Zoo, one of the best in the country, lets them out for a stroll among the visitors on winter Sunday afternoons.

With moderate temperatures it was absolutely packed yesterday. I was lucky to find a place to sit along the route. The chilly birds were completely unfazed by the crowds. They even brought a mascot promoting a brand of ice cream.

A bit more of this tomorrow.      

STL CDPB On The Road: The Penguin

If someone were to say to me, "The penguin!", I would immediately think of:

A. Monty Python: "There's a penguin on the television!"

B. The Blues Brothers: the Penguin was the nun who ran the orphanage where Jake and Elwood were raised; or

C. Some Batman movie.

This version is a Miami Beach hotel on Ocean Avenue. I guess penguins do fly south for the winter. There were damn well none out on the street on this June day.