St. Louis Skippers “Skip to the Zoo”
This post was written by St. Louis Skipper Mary Kay Lane in March of 2001..
Sunday was a beautiful day for skipping at the zoo! The sunny skies and warmer temperatures seemed to bring everyone out of hibernation. The crowds thronged, the lions roared, the sea lions sang, the bears wrestled (at least that’s what I THINK they were doing), the prairie dogs chirped and munched their carrots adorably, and the kookaburra…once we found him, well, he just sat there. And the skippers skipped!…….A little.
Heartfelt thanks go out to the four new skippers who were brave enough to show their faces and skip in public: Deanna, Gregory, Rachel and Zachary. There were eight of us in all. This is the first time that people who admit to being my friends actually came to a group skip and it meant more to me than any of you can imagine…
It was also the first time that we skipped in such a crowded location. Didn’t bother me, but my husband did admit to feeling a tad self-conscious, which is okay. He did join me in a short stint from the bear to bear, but said that was it for him. (This from a guy who once stripped down to his boxers in a play on a stage in front of a full house…go figure…) On the other hand, there is a certain amount of anonymity offered by a crowd. And with all the animals to look at, I don’t think too many people really noticed us skipping.
I was already a little pooped from a long run I took earlier that day, so my skipping was a bit more sluggish than usual. Thanks again to Rachel who reminded me a few times that we weren’t skipping and got me going when my feet wanted to quit.
Well, tomorrow is the official first day of spring…I hope you will all celebrate with a little skip. I know I will! Hope to see you all in April! (How about a skipping egg hunt? Would that be cool or what?) –Mary Kay, St. Louis, 3/20/01
The Saint Louis skippers also skipped across the Chain of Rocks Bridge on November 7th, 2000. Nine skippers–young and old–attended and a the River Front Times did a story.