We went to the Cincinnati Zoo yesterday afternoon. Rode the train, then sat down with a pretzel and drinks. Looked at the video from the day before, when Fiona the baby hippo had her first outside people encounter, with the press. Read that it might be a couple more months before she would be on display. Sighed, commented on how we wished we could see her.
Fiona was the bright spot of this politically charged winter, born in January weighing only 29 pounds, needing a team from Cincinnati Children's Hospital to come at one point and start an IV for her. Too weak to stand and nurse, she small drank bottles of tweaked formula to get her start. We watched videos of her with progressively bigger bottles, learning to swim, getting lotion rubbed on her skin. Then learning to navigate deeper pools. Watched as she got bigger, now weighing 275 pounds.
We went down the hill to the Africa exhibit, admired the lions and painted dogs. Turned a corner and . . . there was Fiona, swimming away with about six zoo helpers who were guiding her and watching to be sure she was ok. Fiona!!!
It felt like a small miracle on a Thursday afternoon.
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