One small house in the San Antonio Zoo nurtures butterflies. Stepping into this exhibit brought immediate delight to us. With all of the sorrows in today’s world, sometimes pausing long enough to play with butterflies brings wonder and joy.
We moved from College Station, Texas to San Antonio in December of 1979, without jobs and on an extremely tight budget. Our finances allowed few luxuries during those first years as an old Honda Civic needed constant repairs, and I still had school loans to repay. We purchased bikes that provided many hours of entertainment. We found a few parks and preserves that offered escapes, all free, from our small apartment. Our favorite splurge, though, became a day at the San Antonio Zoo.
1985
Eventually, parenthood meant even more frequent trips that included train rides and sky rides.The zoo provided rides on elephants and camels during the 1980s as well as a petting zoo that our son grew to love dearly. Our traditions over the years included photographs with the lion sculpture. If family or friends came along, they struck poses, too.
1988
Life took us along different paths that led us away from trips to the zoo as we spent weekends at the family cabin and discovered our love of Renaissance Fairs. Music lessons, art classes along with more demanding careers and aging parents shifted the zoo into an extremely fond memory.
Then in December 2023, my son started wanting to visit this treasured place once again. For our 45th anniversary gift, we decided to purchase new zoo memberships as we found ourselves falling in love once more with all of the changes entwined with our special traditions.
1990
1990
2023
IOUNIO's "Time Traveler" taps into my longing to rekindle parts of my past within my persent.
I'd love it if you'd listen to this song.
Then go the next step: LIKE, COMMENT, REPOST and SUBSCRIBE
Whenever
life beats me down, I look outside. I search for the promises nature creates. I
focus on the potentials. One bud reassures me that tomorrow will bring
blossoms. Another sprout signals life’s persistency. Each unique growth
germinates hope within me.
My parents didn’t earn much money when I was young. Not long before Dad died, he found his final military paycheck stub sandwiched between old tax forms. Imagine his amazement when he viewed a monthly income of just over $500. Somehow, my parents never missed a mortgage payment, car payment, or utility bill. They managed to keep three children well fed and well dressed. Of course, my parents invented the stay at home vacation. We never travelled too far from home in order to avoid hotel or motel bills. All of us looked forward to Dad’s vacation time because we got to eat out three meals a day. We visited the missions, toured the zoo, explored Natural Bridge Caverns, and discovered nearby towns like Wimberley or Fredericksburg. My parents showed their creativity in other ways. One of my favorites? Open House Sundays! New home builders often showed homes and offered cookies and Kool-Aid. Sometimes, free hotdogs with all the trimmings lured us into new neighborhoods. I loved touring the model homes. In a way, I felt like I entered giant doll houses. We’d make up stories about the families that “lived” in these homes as we visited imaginary couples and their children. Through all of the “in town” vacations and Sunday Open Houses, I never realized these enabled my parents to give us nearly free outings. Instead, I saw these activities as fun and amusing. To this day, I still love taking day trips to small Texas towns. I don’t do Open Houses on Sunday afternoons, but I enjoy watching home improvement and decorating marathon shows. They are my pot roasts and mashed potatoes!
One
small house in the San Antonio Zoo nurtures butterflies. Stepping into this exhibit
brought immediate delight to us. With all of the sorrows in today’s world,
sometimes pausing long enough to play with butterflies brings wonder and joy.
We
moved from College Station, Texas to San Antonio in December of 1979, without
jobs and on an extremely tight budget. Our finances allowed few luxuries during
those first years as an old Honda Civic needed constant repairs, and I still
had school loans to repay. We purchased bikes that provided many hours of
entertainment. We found a few parks and preserves that offered escapes, all
free, from our small apartment. Our favorite splurge, though, became a day at
the San Antonio Zoo.
1985
Eventually,
parenthood meant even more frequent trips that included train rides and sky
rides.The zoo provided rides on
elephants and camels during the 1980s as well as a petting zoo that our son
grew to love dearly. Our traditions over the years included photographs with
the lion sculpture. If family or friends came along, they struck poses, too.
1988
Life
took us along different paths that led us away from trips to the zoo as we spent
weekends at the family cabin and discovered our love of Renaissance Fairs.
Music lessons, art classes along with more demanding careers and aging parents
shifted the zoo into an extremely fond memory.
Then
in December 2023, my son started wanting to visit this treasured place once
again. For our 45th anniversary
gift, we decided to purchase new zoo memberships as we found ourselves falling
in love once more with all of the changes entwined with our special traditions.
My parents didn’t earn much money when I was young. Not long before Dad died, he found his final military paycheck stub sandwiched between old tax forms. Imagine his amazement when he viewed a monthly income of just over $500. Somehow, my parents never missed a mortgage payment, car payment, or utility bill. They managed to keep three children well fed and well dressed. Of course, my parents invented the stay at home vacation. We never travelled too far from home in order to avoid hotel or motel bills. All of us looked forward to Dad’s vacation time because we got to eat out three meals a day. We visited the missions, toured the zoo, explored Natural Bridge Caverns, and discovered nearby towns like Wimberley or Fredericksburg. My parents showed their creativity in other ways. One of my favorites? Open House Sundays! New home builders often showed homes and offered cookies and Kool-Aid. Sometimes, free hotdogs with all the trimmings lured us into new neighborhoods. I loved touring the model homes. In a way, I felt like I entered giant doll houses. We’d make up stories about the families that “lived” in these homes as we visited imaginary couples and their children. Through all of the “in town” vacations and Sunday Open Houses, I never realized these enabled my parents to give us nearly free outings. Instead, I saw these activities as fun and amusing. To this day, I still love taking day trips to small Texas towns. I don’t do Open Houses on Sunday afternoons, but I enjoy watching home improvement and decorating marathon shows. They are my pot roasts and mashed potatoes!
