Congratulations to those of you who guessed BamBam! Here’s how I knew:
Zoo Keeper likes to set up zoos, BamBam likes to line things up.
That’s the simplistic reason, though, and not the thing that made me smile when I saw the animals on the bookshelves.
Here are pictures of one of Zoo Keeper’s zoos when he was BamBam’s current age of five years old:
Photo of a bookshelf with books in disarray, animal figurines standing in various places.
Another photo of the bookshelf, this time only the bottom and floor in front of it. Several books are placed on the floor, each with its own animal figurine on top.
See how the animals are in groups? And each group is in its own space – an individual book or pile of books or area on a shelf? Even the petting zoo on the top shelf (with the cow on the right) has each animal in its own space. Zoo Keeper is very strict about keeping each animal in its proper habitat.
BamBam used to line up cars and trains. That’s a pretty classic autistic trait. When he began to play with Zoo Keeper’s animals, he would line them up as well. The elephants would all be standing in a straight line, facing the same way. Zoo Keeper was okay with that. Eventually, though, BamBam started to mix the animals up. It drove Zoo Keeper crazy when he found the flamingos visiting the zebras and the gorillas lounging in the hippo pool. Accusations flew. BamBam was unapologetic.
This morning, when I saw the lineup on my shelves, I knew it was BamBam’s handiwork, but I also realized something new. He has a story behind each arrangement. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. I think it was the penguin on the book that made it click for me.
I took pictures from different angles and my own stories popped into place.
Duped
German Shepherd and Chetah, hungry and tired of running, have persuaded baby zebra to follow them around the corner into the alley behind A Casual Vacancy.
Baby Zebra spies an observer and says, “What? Bad idea?”
Waiting
Elephant, Red Panda, and Penguin wait for the parade to start.
I imagine myself to be the gorilla. I’m just waiting for the penguin to get the fuck off my book.
