The Tulip Zoo

The cherry blossoms have passed their peak. Just off the Tidal Basin, tulips are now the centers of attention. Carefully confined within geometric islands of yellow and red, pink and orange, the tulips stand in segregated crowds, orange with orange and yellow with yellow. The tourists, almost as numerous as the tulips, shuffle along the between the tulip islands. "Joshua, look at Mommy!" a mother, camera in hand, calls to her son. Three-year-old Joshua, who has been positioned by his parents on the other side of this particular tulip island, is about to grab the irresistibly red bloom closest to his chubby hands. Joshua's father prevents this particular tulip from meeting the fate of so many others, but he cannot prevent the tears and frustrated wails of his son. It's just another fine day at the Tulip Zoo.