keeping my head above water

I went to the Minnesota Zoo this month for the first time in many years. Maybe I shouldn't say "many"- after all, the zoo only opened in 1978, and old-school St. Paul natives like my mother still refer to it as the "New Zoo." It's bigger than it used to be, so lucky for me I had an expert guide (you know who you are). Having taken large groups of young children to the zoo several times, he was well-qualified to keep me from wandering into the wolf enclosure, running in the gift shop, etc. It was a warm Saturday afternoon, and when we got to the Bactrian Camels, I was more than a little surprised to see this:


Camels like to stand around in the middle of ponds? Who knew? Well, anybody who's been to the zoo more recently than I have, I suppose. According to the Zoo's website, Bactrian Camels are "reportedly" good swimmers. Does this mean that no officially licensed zoologists have ever seen one swim, and they are relying on the tales told by the Mongolian tribesman who have shared the Gobi desert with the camels? Ah, the beautiful moonlight camel swims; few who have been fortunate enough to witness them shall ever forget the beauty, the serenity, the buoyancy of these hearty beasts of burden. When you think about it, with those giant reserves of fatty tissue permanently attached to their backs like God-given water wings, I should hope they're good swimmers.

Seeing them standing there, only their necks and humps visible, I felt a certain kinship. Between settling into homeownership and the bills that go with it, and the many-faceted craziness of a summer at the public library, I feel like I've spent the last few months in a similar mostly-submerged position, much busier than is comfortable as a norm. It's not more than I can handle (God help me- and often, please), and like the camels I've waded here by choice and would do it again. Unlike the camels, I'm not up to my neck in nice, cool, relaxing water. I think I need to find some soon, preferably off in the North Woods somewhere.

When winter comes, I wonder if camels rise above it all and go skating?