Zoo days, in Washington or Madrid, when the kids were small and animals still entertained them. The monkey's antics and acrobatics; the gorilla's menacing eyes..so human looking; the huge hippo eating bananas, skin and all;
the pandas..will we be lucky and find them awake?..only once, but they were playful and pleasing on that day; the otters-always my favorites, slipping and sliding in their rocky cascades just like they did when I was little; the prarie dogs entertained my dad and daughter for what seemd like an hour - hard to say who had more fun; the giraffes and elephants together in their enormous differences, elegance and playfulness juxtaposed; birds of prey, their regalness sadly hampered by the humiliating cages, I am only now aware of how I was attracted to them. Lions and tigers and bears, Oh my...yes they were there too......Oh for those Zoo days again, when the girls were small, animals still entertained, and I found much joy, insight and calmness in observing such wonderful creatures and in those simple pleasures of our younger family days.In reponse to Bonnie's Blog Word of the Week idea! http://weekendwordsmith.blogspot.com/
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5 comments:
Hi, Amy. The link to my blog doesn't work, and you're showing my other blog anyway. Writers interested in the word of the week should go to Weekend Wordsmith, here:
http://weekendwordsmith.blogspot.com/
It's good to see these with the eyes of a child. I, too, remember how much I enjoyed going to the zoo as a child. But later, as I started realising what the zoo meant for the animals, it made me very sad and I didn't go there anymore. I guess I'll have to do it for my daughters now. I find one comforting thought though: in well kept zoos, with plenty of space and good care, some of these animals, especially those menaced by humans, might fare better than in the wild...
Bonnie, I've fixed the link..I think! Cheers.
Vesper, What zoo means to animals I think has much to do with the zoo, and the zoos I referred to had wonderful surroundings, despite the fact that the animals were not free. Did you read the Life of Pi? There was an interesting reflection by Pi, whose father ran a zoo, that the animals were actaully not so unahppy, becasue in the wild they are constantly on alert either to eat or not to be eaten. He argued that when you take away that facet of anxiousness and stress, that the animals may actaully be Ok in captivity. Anyway just food for thought. (no pun intended) And of course the way it was argued in that great novel was more prosaic than my quick synopis.
I found it interesting that you have daughters, how many, what ages? Mine are now 17 and 14 - they prefer boys, clothes, music and movies to zoos, picnics and parks these days! Enjoy it while you've got it!
Hello again, Amy. Here's the link to my post about Sorted Books:
http://wordsfromawordsmith.blogspot.com/2007/06/sorted-books.html
I'm glad you liked it.
I haven't read the Life of Pi - I'll try to find it now that you told me about it. And, yes, I think it's right.
I have two daughters also, one is almost 7, the other will be 4 in October. I look at them and I see how they're almost not babies anymore; well, they are still, in a way, but are so quickly going away from this, that I keep telling myself to try and enjoy more every moment of their childhood. Thank you for reminding me!!!
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