Spring’s about the bright colors.  Spring’s about blowing off work and class to see the bright colors.  And get sand between the toes and sunshine on the skin, and a few other things. 

There were lots of bright colors at the weekend event, certainly, but lo and behold, I’m reminded today that bright colors can even be found in nature.  From March 31 through April, the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park is holding their annual Butterflies & Orchids event. 

The orchid display was nice, but the real treat was the butterflies.  One of the aviaries houses free-flying butterflies and the public is free to enter and watch.  Butterflies were flying everywhere and landing on everyone, to the dismay of a few small children.  The resident birds were taking their new guests in stride, and the whole thing was just an overdose of bright spring colors.  At least one butterfly was unfortunately crunched under my shoe, but I think he might have been depressed about his captivity and landed there intentionally.  A prison is still a prison, after all.

This morning, as I get ready to go watch some of the best water polo teams in the world play down at UCSD, I have to read that San Diego’s municipal incompetence is going to shut down nine of the city’s pools. Because aside from things like recreational sports teams building leaders and creating scholarship opportunities, god forbid the kids in a major coastal city learn how to swim.