Cloe and Jacob on a Fine Summer's Day

I’ve never figured out why this is, but I’ve always been popular with young boys. A magnet for kids and animals in general, the force is particularly strong with 8-12 year old males. I’ll shoot hoops with them, let them play with the neighborhood dog, and listen when they talk about the red-headed girl. They think I’m cool. And I think that’s cool. Soon testosterone will addle their brains and girls like me won’t be on the radar. Nature will put them on drugs. For a long, long time. Danger: shiny objects and giggly, jiggly things. But for now, they are bright, enthusiastic, and a joy to be around.

In San Diego, I’ve got a new buddy named Jacob. Jacob came to see The Odd Couple because his mother, Lisa, is in the show; but as Olive, I caught his attention by being a loud, smart-alecky slob who throws pasta around. Right up the 8-year-old alley. Immediately after the show, Jacob and I began to debate which of us was sloppier. His older sister, Cloe, informed me that I would “cry with defeat” if I saw Jacob’s room. Later, Lisa brought in pictures of the room to bolster Jacob’s point.

As I understand it, Jacob also decided that it was his job to show me the world famous San Diego Zoo. I’ve only been to a zoo once in my life, when I was no older than Jacob, and this one was on my To-Do list so I was more than happy to tag along when Lisa called Thursday morning.

Jacob’s favorite animals are the pandas, so they were the first stop on a tour that included a milestone trip over treetops in an aerial tram for heights-fearful me. It amazed me how well Jacob and his family knew their way around the zoo. You couldn’t ask for better tour guides. It turns out, though, that they were getting a new zoo experience with me, too.

It goes back to that children and animals thing: I’m a magnet. Despite all the years that Jacob and family have been going to the zoo, they say they witnessed things with me that they’d never seen before. Tigers, usually sedentary and hard to find, became very active, spraying trees and venturing down to the glass partition after I joked they should be fired. Shiftless orangutans began to climb and swing at my suggestion. Birds of prey and gorillas turned their head toward the camera on my cue. Polar bears dove and frolicked like otters, which were diving and frolicking too. Hippos slept over a vent near the glass. Even Channel 10 cameras were spotted capturing local video for a petting zoo story that night. It was only when we failed to find the ocelot in his cage that Jacob decided my “Tennessee powers” could only last so long. Coincidence, sure. But a heck of a lot of fun.

My first trip to the Zoo was a great success. By the end of it, we were all drenched by heavy rain, but we saw more activity in one day than the average person sees in multiple trips. True to form, I had trouble with my camera, but if only one roll of the four I filled develops properly, I’ll have some worthy shots.

Thanks, Jacob, for the tour. And get ready, Kendall and Haley, for your trip to San Diego. Aunt Kelly didn’t see the elephants.