Salt bagels are delicious!

Today I had my first salt bagel. Ever. I'm not sure what took so long- those little doughy circles of goodness are freaking delicious! It's like eating a pretzel for breakfast. With a side of cream cheese. If you haven't had one, I encourage you to run out to neighborhood bagel shop and pick up a few.

Ode to Bagels

Bagels, bagels are good for the soul,
with their big outside and little round hole.

Bagels, bagels are good for the mind.
I’ve never been known to leave one behind.

Bagels, bagels, they put you at ease.
You can eat them with lox,
You can eat them with cream cheese.

(Poem written by a 6th grader from Illinois- but it pretty much describes my feelings completely)

And in other news...

It snowed (again) yesterday. Not Snowpocalypse status, but still enough that the roads are a tad bit icy and I don't feel like braving the conditions to go out into the world. There are just too many crazies-behind-the-wheel out there.

Yesterday was the big going away party for Tai Shan, the Zoo's four-year-old panda that China has decided to steal from the U.S. Well, I guess they didn't actually "steal" the cute little guy; China has a monopoly on the entire panda bear population worldwide and therefore has the right to claim its property at any time. Needless to say, some people have been really worked up about it. Like, really, really worked up. That panda has an intense fan club that seems to shun the rest of the zoo's inhabitants for that big black-and-white bear. They even have panda-themed hats.

Now, I'm no panda hater, but I think that someone needs to stick of for the other cool animals at the Zoo. Just a few feet away from the "real" pandas are the red pandas- adorable, energetic little guys that look like a raccoon-fox combination. They frolic and make noises and get very little attention, even though they are basically begging for a few photographs to be taken of them!

(Adorable red panda in the snow via National Zoo)

To be honest, I was more upset when the hippo was taken away. Happy (the hippo) left for greener pastures last fall without getting a send-off party. Also, since the elephant house is undergoing a major renovation, Ben and I haven't been able to visit the pygmy hippos or the capybaras, two of my faves. But the pandas are the real celebrities of the Zoo, so they get all the attention. Where is the justice?!

That said, there are still plenty of other cool animals worth checking out at the Zoo, which has become one of our favorite D.C. hangouts. Ben highly recommends checking out the maned wolf- it looks like a red fox on stilts. But it smells real bad.

I promise there are other, more important, things going on in our lives aside from discussing zoo drama. But I felt like something needed to be said on the other animals' behalf...

:)

~S~