Our house is a zoo.

There’s a grizzly bear who gets all cranky and brusque about the play dough that she finds ground into the rug while she cleans the play room that was supposed to be cleaned hours ago by her cubs.

There’s a gorilla (a silver back, don’t you know) who beats his chest from time to time.

There’s an iguana, slow moving and silent. He speaks volumes just by blinking or raising an eyebrow.

There are a couple of bright and beautiful birds. The vibrant colors of their many feathers are unmatched, but my do they caw and chirp and make noise from their perfectly shaped beaks all the day long.

There’s a crazy monkey who swings and swings and squeals and squeals, his love of play and life reflected in each and every swing and in each and every squeal.

And there’s a bull dog and a terrier mutt who also live in the house that is a zoo.

And they live there, these members of the zoo, passing time together, loving, laughing, yelling, breathing, growling, pounding, blinking, cawing, squealing and barking. Living…all together…for the time that they have…in complete “zoo-ish-ness.”