A Pause for a Good Cause

We interupt our broadsides at Ken Blackwell et al. to talk about the Akron Zoo. As reported yesterday, the zoo's levy is up for renewal this fall and will be on the ballot. I've been drafted to help with the campaign, so this is my first official act.

You can read all about the zoo at their website. The campaign will have a web presence, but I haven't yet gotten word that it's live. The Akron Zoo is a great success story for the city. Not long ago it was a petting zoo and a third-rate one at that. Now it houses scores of species and has participated in some cutting edge preservation activities.

Obviously, missing the school levy by that much complicates the picture considerably. Since the Zoo issue is not a new tax, we are hopeful.

For good measure, here's some pics from one of my favorite days ever at the zoo. Kid T and I were there three years ago on an early spring day and got to see staff reintroduce the Trumpeter Swans back into the outdoor habitat.

Trumpeters are endangered -- about 6000 now living. And they really do trumpet. As the mated pair were deposited individually in the habitat, they started vocalizing to find one another. The clear tone of their call is at once familiar and gloriously otherworldly -- like a Haydn concerto played on native instruments from some undiscovered tribe.


I guess J. Ken would say that this is another example of a Democrat thinking the government is God. No, Ken. The government is an instrument for bringing this wonderful community asset to our city. And listening to those regal birds call to one another, I was reminded of what it is to feel the presence of God.