The Fried Ice Cream Laughter Manufacturing Company

What a beautiful day.  Spent it with my best girl.  We went to the zoo this afternoon before heading over to a friend’s house for a barbecue.

The last animals that we stopped to take a look at while enjoying Como Zoo were DeBrazza’s monkeys.  They live outside in a cylindrical cage next to the ice cream sandwich vending machine.  The cage is furnished with tree branches and ropes for the monkeys to climb and play on.  There were two of the monkeys inside when we happened by.

If you’ve never seen one of DeBrazza’s monkeys they have a long white beard that looks remarkably well-coiffed for a creature of the wild.  As we stood and peered in to their cage the monkey’s faces remained serene.  Miyagi-style they snatched bugs out of the air with their bare hands.  A rowdy group of teenagers tried to rile them up, but DeBrazza’s monkeys were circumspect.  Their brows furrowed, as if to say, “your adolescent hi-jinks do not concern us.” 

I couldn’t escape the feeling that these monkeys might very well be smarter than me.  Or at the very least, more mature.  They exuded a wizened calm.  It was a calm more calm than any calm I have ever exuded.  And it was wizened.

Another interesting fact about DeBrazza’s monkeys is that the males have a blue scrotum.

Add that to the list of reasons to be jealous of them.

1.  Live next door to an ice cream sandwich vending machine. 

2.  Smarter than humans.  And wiser/more “centered”.

3.  Blue scrotums.

On this Independence Day weekend I feel very lucky to be an American.  I might feel a little luckier if I were a DeBrazza’s monkey with an American passport.