Frankie's Weather Report

During the Snowpocalypse of 2010, Frankie went outside to report on the weather.

The snow is five hippos deep and the temperature is two chills and a shiver. If you're going outside, bundle up!

The cars are hibernating. We'd better travel by foot.

Ludwig was hoping to visit the animals in the zoo, but nobody shoveled their sidewalk yet. We hope they have some good cartoons to watch and hot chocolate to warm up with.

The humans are sliding down a hill and struggling to climb back up. They probably wouldn't fall so fast if they didn't sit on those sheets of plastic.

Nature is very pretty when she puts her snow on.

It's unusually quiet and peaceful in the big city today. Maybe there will be more activity down this way.

The kids were starting up a snowball fight. Ludwig ducked behind a bush for a quick snapshot and then scurried off to safety.

The snowmen are growing fat this winter. They must be getting ready for a long, hot summer.

ZooLights

A favorite holiday tradition for Hippo is dressing warm on a cold December night and going for a very special walk through the National Zoo.

It's ZooLights!

The trails are ablaze with festive lights.

And glowing animals appear around every corner.

Even tropical birds enjoy the festivities.

Hippo has stars in his eyes.

Tigers prowl the forest.

Chasing after butterflies.

The light pandas are munching happily.

And the fuzzy pandas are snoozing. Tai Shan must have gotten tired packing for his big trip to China.

A family of elephants is stomping through the grass.

And making it hard to hold the camera steady.

It's not quite cold enough to build snowhippos yet. But the water is definitely too cold for a swim.

We should go warm up in the barn.

The alpacas are getting cozy in their beds and probably wondering what's with all the late night visitors.

But the goats are already fast asleep.

A squirrel is outside juggling acorns.

And a pumpkin is grazing on the – wait, pumpkins aren't animals. Pumpkins are food! Mmm, food…

Nothing can be more satisfying after a brisk walk in the cold than warm cinnamon donuts and hot chocolate.

Cake Wrecks

Hippo discovered that there are Web sites where people write funny things every day. One of his favorites is called Cake Wrecks. They show what happens when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong:

Q) What do you get if you cross Princess Leia, Dracula, and the Bride of Frankenstein?

A) This.

Hippo was excited to hear that the authors were coming to a bookstore near his hometown. They even brought along some funny cakes to share.


The cakes are so funny that they make him squirt root beer out his nose. I got him a book of Cake Wrecks so he'd stop getting my computer all sticky.


It was exciting to meet a real Web celebrity in person!


She wrote:

To Hippo

Under Neat That

Enjoy the "cake"!

- Jen Yates

Old Milwaukee

One Hippo's loss is another hippo's gain. Washington, D.C.'s Happy the Hippo is headed to Milwaukee.


Happy needed to move out since his current building at the National Zoo is being renovated to expand the elephant habitat. But it's not all sad – Happy has several amenities to enjoy at his new home including:

• Heated floors
• Swimming pool
• Shower
• Two female roomates: Patty and Puddles

Hippo hopes to make a trip to Milwaukee after the move to keep in touch with his Great Uncle (and maybe enjoy his fancy facilities).

Hippo's Secret Tour of Washington, D.C.

This is the time of year when tourists begin flocking to Washington, D.C. to enjoy the sights and history of the nation's capital. Everybody knows the famous places to see: the Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Smithsonian Museums. But not everybody knows the quieter museums, buildings, monuments, and parks. So here is Hippo's guided tour of some of his favorite, secret places in Washington:

National Portrait Gallery
This museum houses a great collection of history as art. They have educational portraits of famous Americans from colonial days to modern times, including a gallery of all the American presidents. They also show temporary exhibits of great American artists and different formats of art like graffiti and commercial posters. It's located in the old Patent Office near Chinatown and stays open later than most other museums.

Udvar-Hazy Center
This extension of the Air and Space Museum is a large hangar near Dulles Airport. It contains a fantastic collection of aircraft and spacecraft from the entire history of flight. Everything from balloons to biplanes, war planes, research jets, satellites, and the first Space Shuttle.

FDR Memorial
The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is a low, quiet series of plazas along the Tidal Basin. It depicts the four terms of his presidency from the Great Depression to the New Deal to World War II. Statues, engravings, and waterfalls convey a sense of how the man, the country, and the world changed during those years. In the springtime the memorial is especially beautiful with blossoming cherry trees.

World War II Memorial
This is one of Hippo's favorite spots to rest during a long day exploring the Mall. It's sunk below street level, a pretty fountain circled by majestic pillars and twin waterfalls. If you visit at sunset then you can sit on the warm granite benches and watch the sky fade behind the Lincoln Memorial.

National Zoo
Of course, Hippo's favorite place in Washington is no secret at all: the zoo! He loves to visit the bears, cheetahs, apes, pandas, lions, tigers, flamingos, horses, zebras, goats, cows, chickens, pigs, orangutans, tamarinds, anteaters, otters, seals, beavers, wolves, elephants, his great uncle Happy, and everyone else whose name he can't always remember. But his secret is that if you want to really see the furry, scaly, and feathered animals – rather than a bunch of hairless apes in clothes – you should visit when it's cold or rainy. The animals don't mind the weather, so if you dress warm you can keep them company on a quiet day.

A Hippo for Hope

A plaque on the campus of The George Washington University in Washington, DC reads:

GW'S RIVER HORSE

Legend has it that the Potomac was once home to these wondrous beasts. George and Martha Washington are even said to have watched them cavort in the river shallows from the porch of their beloved Mount Vernon on summer evenings. Credited with enhancing the fertility of the plantation, the Washingtons believed the hippopotamus brought them good luck and children on the estate often attempted to lure the creatures close enough to the shore to touch a nose for good luck.

So, too, may generations of students of The George Washington University.

Art for wisdom,

Science for joy,

Politics for beauty,

And a Hippo for hope.

Alongside is this lovely bronze hippopotamus. Hippo whispered something in his ear, eliciting a brassy guffaw. I didn't get what was so funny. It must have been hippo humor.

Embassy Row

Hippo loves to travel and see distant lands. There are so many places to see that it will take quite a long time to see them all! But Hippo found a shortcut – if you walk along Embassy Row in his home city of Washington, DC then you will find outposts from countries around the globe:

Belgium has pretty flowers, a nice view of the cathedral, and waffles.

Finland is an excellent example of postmodern architecture.

Hippo waved hello to the nice lady from Norway.

Hippo heard a Big Ben ringtone outside the United Kingdom.

Italy is angular and modern.

Turkey brews irresistible coffee and plays sweet music.

Hippo forgot to pack his sombrero for this visit to Mexico.

It's a little early to stop for a caipirinha at Brazil.

The Islamic Center has pretty towers and arches.

India has a friendly pair of door elephants.

The sculptural globes outside Korea are fascinating.

Hippo resisted the urge to tiptoe through the flower gardens of Togo.

A book of flags might be helpful for identifying all these countries. Hippo imagines that there must be a wonderful variety of foods cooking along Embassy Row at dinnertime. He'd be delighted to accept an invitation from any ambassador with a little extra to share.