I went to Zoo Hell today.

It was dark and humid, full of people and a little stinky. It was the Nocturnal exhibit at Henry Doorly Zoo.

I went in against my better judgment, at the desire of my loving husband of five years. Afterall, it was a special date day and marriage is nothing if not compromise. So in we went. Within minutes, standing in almost pitch-darkness in the child-congested corridor I knew I had entered some strange netherworld. It was only a few steps further where the younglings’ loud shouts and shrieks echoed off the black cavern walls into displays of various creatures of the dark, where the warm, stifling, stagnant air practically sucked the breath from my lungs that I knew I had entered Zoo Hell. We then double-timed it past the reptiles and insects, past the bats, past the swamp area where we briefly saw a ghostly alligator (or was it a crocodile? don’t care, just get me out!!), jostling millions of small children, big children, strollers and backpacks, and finally out the exit door.

Zoo Heaven is sunshine and a clean breeze. Room to smile at and walk alongside the large numbers of yellow-shirted 4 to 10 year olds from McKinley Elementary School. It’s a special date day with my loving husband on an absolutely beautiful day in May. And it was appreciated all the more after Zoo Hell was conquered.