a GUEST blogger

Below is a post from Graham:

A couple of weeks ago I took Blue to a free neighborhood "petting zoo" 20 mins away by train. The zoo had guinea pigs, rabbits, and dogs.

In the guinea pig pen, children sat on a bench with a towel on their laps, and an adult put a guinea pig on their laps to pet. Blue was very sweet with his guinea pig, and a little nervous. He was very careful, as always.

The rabbit was in a pen. I couldn't read the signs, but nobody else was getting into the pen, so I assume they said something like "stay outside the pen." We stayed outside and wished the rabbit would come close enough to touch, but the rabbit knew better.

My favorite animal was the dog, who reminded me of Lucy and was very sweet. 

I rarely see animals here, much less touch them. I'd forgotten how therapeutic it is to pet a dog. I've heard of places in Tokyo you can pay by the hour to play with cats. Before moving here I thought this idea was crazy, but now I understand why such a business exists.