yonmei

12:17 pm: Sleepy polar bear
I am going to St Boswells to spend about 30 hours uninterrupted time with my family.

So this morning I went to the zoo to see Mercedes in the tiny little polar bear enclosure where she has lived for 25 years, which has driven at least one polar bear insane (that I know of).

Next week Mercedes leaves for the Highlands, where the Army has built her a much larger enclosure where she can roam around like a proper polar bear would. Probably no seals, though. At least, not for long.

Mostly, Mercedes was asleep. I don't think that's surprising: none of the coffee shops in the zoo open till half past ten. (I had to leave about 10:25, and went back via the market, where I had my usual skinny double-shot latte and considered buying provisions for the weekend and decided that, however apprehensive I am, if I want to spend time with my new nephew/get to know his mother, it would probably be necessary to leave my room some of the time. (Unless I can persuade them to hole up with me and leave my brother to fight with our parents on his own.)



Tags: bears, coffee, family stuff, zoo

10:31 am: Polar bears and Bob
I had a vivid dream last night that I had released a polar bear on to my bed (a small cat-sized polar bear, but an adult) and was feeling quite pleased with myself for having offered support to an endangered species, when Bob jumped up on to my bed and the polar bear went for her. I stood there unable to move, suddenly realising that however small the bear was, it was an actual polar bear - the most dangerous ursine species - and that it was going to kill Bob before I could get to my bed and stop it happening.

Then I woke up. And had tangled thoughts, climbing out of the dream, that I should also have released penguins on to my bed to give the polar bear something to hunt.

Awake, I would not have considered this solution: penguin guano all over the sheets?

Evidently it was really cold last night. My bed does not otherwise resemble a glacier.

Tags: bears, bob, dreams, penguins