Best Ever Department

On Saturday, my stepson heads back to college for his final semester. I wanted to do something as a family that he'd remember all his life, so I arranged for us to feed giraffe's at the zoo. This is a normal sized viewing window in their little wooden house. This handsome man is parked beside it so you can really see how tall they are.

There's a family of five living there, one male and two females, each of whom have a baby.

In the wild they'd be grazing tree tops round the clock, but at the zoo, they get fed just fine. So they end up licking fence posts or the edges of their shelter in their spare time. But one female got creative and instead grooms the mane of the youngest of the group... and she does it every day.

Here he sports his little mohawk, while his mother and hairdressing auntie look on.

It's completely surreal to be close to them, with their velvety noses, funny ears sticking out, their Cindy Lou Hoo horns and enormous doe eyes. As I mentioned here, they're curious and attentive and are VERY INTERESTED in Y-O-U.

From up near the clouds that adorable face glide straight down like a crane on that long, long neck. They've got 7 vertebrae just like us -- but each one measures the height of our head alone. Around something this big, all your instincts kick on... yet their sweet, harmless nature had my nervous system stumped. To be able to stand up close to this towering presence sends a shiver of delight though your being.

As their soft, fuzzy lips take a slice of sweet potato from your hand or their long purple tongue -- apparently colored to act as sunscreen -- grabs hold of your lettuce, it's so gentle you don't even feel it.

Or maybe it's because you're so struck with wonder you can't feel anything else... though I do recall the sensation of the intense, hot brush of their breath pouring forth from their nostrils. It's like feeding a dinosaur and a kitten at the same time.

Oh, we had a most magnificent, most marvelous day.