Fly Dumbo fly!

the weight of his giddy riders made takeoff quite a challenge for dumbo

after nearly three years of vacillating, procrastinating, and squelching feelings of "we're too old for the zoo", marlon and i finally made it to the singapore zoo. we spent a muggy sunday afternoon thanking the heavens that it was nothing like sentosa, as well as indulging our inner children.

our inner children, of course, kicked and begged and shrieked to be let on the above elephant. we were notably the only adults without kids that day who lined up, asquirm with excitement, for elephant rides.

the blubber-soft, cute-and-cuddly dumbo imagery of my youth was tossed out the window the second i set my butt upon our noble steed's padded tarpaulin "saddle". you almost think you're sitting on a massive, ancient block of stone -- until it heaves into a swaying, almost graceful motion.

marlon and i also spent some time before an elephant show sketching the animals (mostly their butts). man you gotta give walt disney major props for stamping the idea that elephants are round and soft into our heads. they actually have a very solid, square shape -- ideal for all the heavy lifting, battering, and bulldozing they are made to do in quite a number of cultures.

you have to sit absolutely straight while astride the elephant, which should lend any elephant-rider some of his transport's noble air. with my head erect and back ramrod-straight, it was easy to imagine myself moving regally through the jungle in some queenly, exotic garment.

my most vivid takeaway from the entire ride though was our elephant's ears -- bristly, heavy sheets of canvas, or very rough leather, slap-slap-slapping against my calves.

not bad for something that we put off for nearly three years. :-P