follow the leader

you may remember rudy the reindeer from our trip to hensler's nursery in the fall. we went back this weekend to see santa. there isn't a photo with santa. or even of santa. because neither kid would go within ear shot of his house. i will remind you that hensler's is over an hour drive from our house. at least they wanted to see rudy. and it's okay. i figured they weren't going to do it anyway. plus, they have killer sales in the barn at this time of year. i swear rudy remembered the kids. as soon as we walked up to the fence he came right over. both kids ran the fence line. 1,284 times. and rudy was right after them. 1,284 times. will yelled, 'come on, rudy! come on! you can do it!' 1,284 times. funny. my mom took me to san diego back when i was in college. my dad's annual convention was out there so we took advantage of the warmth. and god awful salty rotting beach air. must be an acquired smell. one i never want to smell. again. anyway, we of course took in the world famous san deigo zoo while we were there. my parents lived in california for a brief time when they first got married. they visited the san diego zoo. it had been over thirty years earlier at that point. while we were at the zoo we stopped to visit the camels. they were all toward the back of the enclosure. way back when my mom had a love affair with one leon the camel. at the sand diego zoo. i don't think he had a name. that she knew of. she just called him that. so, while we were standing there she calls out. to a leon. and i'll be damned if one of the camels made a beeline over to where we were standing. a long lost reunion. i wonder if rudy will live that long.