At some point during each crazy busy day this week (we combined a bit of business with a lot of fun at the Disney theme parks in Orlando), I sat down in the midst of chaos to do a quick drawing of something that caught and held my attention… Above, the diver whose job it is to vacuum up the soggy manatee poop from the bottom of their aquarium enclosure. I had never considered how one might have to deal with the end result of the 80-150 heads of lettuce consumed each day by each of these blobby, couch-sized aquatic mammals. Not one of the glamour jobs in the parks but probably pretty peaceful…
I thought I might chronicle all the things various members of our group carried around - umbrellas, rain ponchos, sunscreen, water bottles, small sketchbook, snacks, hand sanitizer… but that quickly got boring and I moved on.
Seahorses are way cooler - to watch as they float around, probably not far from their mate (some species mate for life)… and, to draw.
I love the theming in all the Disney parks - this potted plant was spotted in the EPCOT version of Morocco. [On this trip I also learned what EPCOT stands for… Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.] I have no idea how many bazillions of details have gone into creating the many, many experiences/moments/adventures/stories one encounters in the parks - but I could have filled many, many sketchbook pages with details from all the lands within the various parks.
Perhaps my favourite land was Pandora (in Animal Kingdom) - but there was way too much going on there to attempt a drawing in the time I had available.
While I knew I was going to be treated to gorillas and giraffes at Animal Kingdom, what I wasn’t expecting was how enthralled I’d be to learn about naked mole rats. Did you know that a colony of these odd-looking blind burrow-dwellers is led by a queen? Or that the queen exudes certain pheromones that prevent other females from breeding? As often as not the mole rates navigate backside first through their tunnels because hey, if you are functionally blind you might as well get around by taking advantage of locational feedback delivered by the delicate hairs all over your body.
When we stumbled into a drawing class led by a Disney animator, you know there was no way I was going to miss the chance to try something new in the pencil-to-paper department. My fox looks a little stoned, but sitting down for half an hour with a room full of others, our clipboards and pieces of drawing paper balanced on our knees was a delightful pause between more boisterous rides, shows, spectacular fireworks displays, live music, and fabulous food that has kept us well entertained for days.
What we haven’t had a lot of is sleep… It’s late, so that’s where I’ll leave this for now.