panda pic

This is Bai Yun (White Cloud), the adult female panda at the San Diego Zoo. She is the mother of two cubs. According to the zoo, she likes things that smell like cloves, pine or mens' cologne.

Panda moanium

When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I wrote in my latest Edmond Sun column that there are 10 giant pandas in U.S. zoos. I was quickly brought up to date by emails to the editor. There's been a panda population explosion -- there are now 20% more pandas -- bringing the total to 12. There are four pandas in San Diego, three in Washington, D.C., three in Atlanta and two in Memphis (with a possible baby on the way). Mea culpa!

To read the article, please go to www.edmondsun.com/features/local_story_077143410.html?keyword=secondarystory

There were a couple of editorial errors in the story -- those weren't my culpas! If you read it -- there are 24 Israeli scrolls in the San Diego exhibit -- 10 of these have never been on public view. There are also three scrolls from Jordan. The Russian materials are not Dead Sea Scrolls but very ancient texts. And the prices quoted in the paragraphs about the U.S. Grant Hotel refer to the nightly rate -- not the cost of the headboards!!!!!

Other than that, enjoy!

Don't it always seem to go

Oklahoma Travel
I thought of the song with the line "don't it always seem to go -- you don't know what you got til it's gone" today when I heard from Lawton that the Percussive Arts Museum is closed. If you never visited, you missed a treat. Associated with the national Percussive Arts Association, which is moving to Indianapolis for better accommodations for their conventions, the museum was a delightful collection of musical instruments from all over the world -- and even out of it with one instument with parts made from meteorite material. I understand the Comanche tribe will occupy the space so, hopefully, there will be a new museum there.

The other bit of sad news I've received lately is that Oklahoma's only Polish restaurant, Bozena's in Ft. Gibson, is closed. I'll miss Bozena's great pierogis.

On the upbeat side -- Oklahoma Trails opened this week at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Featuring animals native to the state (in the present and the past), this marvelous exhibit covers not only animals but the plants of Oklahoma's many eco-systems. Well done, zoo.