Kickass and the roaring lion

Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the highlight of a recent “igloo” lunch for the keeper and Phyllis at Zu zu restaurant just outside the gates of Vilas Park Zoo, was the distant roaring of a lion.  In the company of Todd, Alexis and Taylor, the protected outside, masked-up lunch took on a coronavirus character as the lion roared its unmistakable authoritative opinion of things.

Later, when they strolled the park lagoon area and paused on one of the bridges, the lion continued its roaring as the zoo’s giraffe made a distant appearance and a trio of toddlers enjoyed sliding on the “Old Woman and the Shoe” play site.

Madison is drafting big plans to bring the beloved old zoo and its environs up to date, and the keeper likes to think that the lion may have been roaring its approval.  On a morning when a few masked strollers and dog-walkers bespoke a populace cowering before a deadly pandemic and attempting to retain a smidgen of the free and decent life style they once knew, it seemed like a good time to roar.