Birthdays
Categories: uncategorized
Date: 07 October 2008 10:29:27
My, did I have a wonderful birthday?!? Tinged with sadness that eldest son couldn't share it, but a real joy all the same. We caught the early ferry and met up, at 10am precisely, with two very good friends and Auntie J and the five of us squeezed into the Smudgemobile (hmm... why MY car, I wonder...) to do the Safari Park at Longleat, something we've all been longing to do for ages.
How can I begin to describe what a wonderful day we had? Every minute was perfect. I could describe the indescribable magic of having a timid fallow deer approach the car and take food from my outstretched hand, except there aren't words enough to capture that amazing sensation. I could talk about the sense of honour I felt (others may have felt differently) to stand in a cave full of fruit bats who were flying freely, wing tips brushing my cheek as they zoomed past in total confidence of not hitting me, gazing at their deep gentle eyes as they dangled on a piece of orange to eat the soft juicy insides, me venturing into their world for a change, instead of them venturing into mine. I could mention the excitement of seeing sealions, kingfishers, rhinoceros; the awe at finding myself sitting alongside the most majestic tiger, with only the thickness of the car door and the vigilance of the wardens to keep us apart; the embarrassment of seeing giant tortoises do their bit to prevent the species from becoming extinct; the utter delight and hilarity of seeing the monkeys clamber and play and investigate all over our car (combine that with the slight worry of what damage they were inflicting upon it!)... no, I can't even begin to describe it.
You'll know, of course, that if you carelessly click on any of these pictures you will be instantly transported to my flickr page which will bore you silly with 4 pages of our photos - and that's just a few of the ones we took!
At the end of the day we said our tired goodbyes, and then the Smudgelet and I headed off to Bristol to our posh hotel (complete with rubber ducks in the bathroom). Well, expensive hotel, anyway. Perfect end to a lovely day.