I took a sweet stroll through the Oregon Zoo today, my first visit there in about a dozen years. Checking it all out in the company of my very own two-year-old homo sapiens (and I mean very sapiens), I experienced both a cozy familiarity with the place and the beauty of seeing it through new eyes.

Before visitors even hand over their tickets, they see mountain goats, and this time around, we were treated to the sight of the new kid on the block (literally), born just over a week ago and hanging with mom. Then a couple of new (to me) exhibits, on butterflies and tropical birds, got us up close and personal with some denizens of the wild. Both were flying around in their enclosures and landing on young people's hands, and patrons of all ages got to look them in the eyes. Over in the amphitheater (where I'm about a decade and a half overdue to see a summer evening concert), trained storks, vultures, and ravens were going through their paces. Across the way in the famed elephant center, a big old pachyderm and a trainer were having a long and serious conversation of some sort through the huge fence. And the rest of cast and crew were stronger than I expected.

Prices were reasonable, commercialism was at a minimum, healthy food was available. Made a Portlander proud.

There were school-busloads of kids running about the place, which for an extended period of my life would have made the scene intolerable for me. No longer, of course. Surprise of the day: the number of Latino students and their supervisors chatting away in Spanish.

A lot has changed in the 25 years I've been visiting this zoo. But Washington Park has great "bones," which have withstood the evolution and promise to keep giving for many generations to come.

Nice day.