Mmmm . . . lunch! Hungry hungry hippo at Toledo Zoo—20 September 2014 This guy put on quite a show at feeding time. The real deal is almost as cute as the plush puppet that served as my focal point for NOS' birth more than 21 years ago.
![<b>Staying power
Chicago Botanic Garden—3 September 2014</b>
I was pleasantly surprised to see a few hangers-on in the water garden. My lotus research revealed that, “[a]n individual flower from these plants will only last a few days, but a healthy plant can have several flowers blooming every day from June to August or even later.” Nice!](https://photos.smugmug.com/Photo-of-the-Week/2014-Photos-of-the-Week/i-xvwWL7s/1/3bc64e22/Ti/20140903_115045-Ti.jpg)
