Disney World 2008 Pics Of The Day--Day 5

The title here is highly misleading, since there are no Disney World pics for day 5. There was nothing interesting enough in our hotel room to warrant the posting of pictures, and the hotel room was where we stayed. Ked read a good book (Jane Eyre), and I slept--a lot. While generally I would say that if I'm going to be bed-ridden, I'd rather do it at home where I have familiar things and my favorite comfort videos, all-in-all the Animal Kingdom Lodge isn't such a bad place to be laid up (once you get past the fact you're spending hundreds of dollars a day just to lay around sneezing). Ked and I took one of the mattresses off the bunk beds that occupy one corner of our room, and placed it by the sliding glass doors that lead to our balcony. (I still love that we have our own balcony. I'm really very easy to please.) This placement gave me easy Internet access, and also allowed me a view of the outdoors, where the giraffes and ostriches cavorted for our amusement.

Giraffes really are fascinating, extremely graceful creatures. Did you know that when they walk they move both legs on the same side at the same time? Most other four-legged animals alternate sides so that at any given point they have a tripod of support underneath them, but not so the giraffe. One wonders how they stay balanced, but they not only stay upright, they stay upright with dignity and panache. They are really beautiful when they run, too. A few times yesterday we saw them chase each other in play, or chase one of the ostriches in earnest. (We haven't figured out what they have against the ostriches, but it was quite diverting to watch.) Of course, at none of these times did we have a camera to the ready, so we can't share the visuals with you--not that a still photo could have captured the moment properly anyhow. Another interesting bit of yesterday's animal observations was the ongoing mournful bellow of one of the ankole (pronounced an-coal-ee) cattle. He was wailing long into the night, and continues as I type this. I choose to think that he is moaning his sympathy for my poor pathetic excuse for a vacation, locked in my room as I have been.

Oh well, the flu seems to be letting up a bit today, and the sun is shining. I think we'll be heading out of doors again and re-familiarizing ourselves with the taste of fresh air. Perhaps the sunshine will perk us up, eh? We might even take a few pictures...