I took the kids to the zoo yesterday. It was a blast! I needed to get a baby shower gift so the kids and I trekked up to a big town about 70 miles from where we live. I forgot how much I enjoy going to the zoo. Right now the kids are at a great age to visit the zoo-especially our particular zoo because it is extremely kid-friendly! I enjoy the flowers as much-if not more-than the animals! Many different sections of the zoo are dedicated to someone and cared for by their loved ones. So the variety is great. When we went the irises were in full bloom. Of course I forgot my camera or I’d have some amazing photos to wow you. Oh well. I’ll do my best to draw word pictures for you-although my professors always told me I was just too wordy...and couldn’t draw. Bear with me! The zoo is built on both sides of a lake with plenty of bridges and outlooks. Near the water you’ll find food you can feed the ducks and geese. Having gone when we did there were numerous goslings and ducklings trailing their mamas through the water. My kids especially loved feeding the babies. One family of geese in particular joined us on the overlook and hissed at us when we tried to walk by. We continued on. In past visits the fish and fowl fought for the food, if only I could be at water level to take a photo it would look like they are kissing-well without all the wing-flapping!
The day we attended was mere days before they opened the “Splash Pond”. It’s a water park for the kids with water coming up from the ground and dumped from overhead, etc. There’s a large playground in the middle next to the petting/feeding zoo. We enjoyed our lunch in the old stagecoach, watching the male peacock sing his song while he strutted around with his plumes spread upright. The sight was amazing! I was really bummed that I didn’t have my camera so I could join the others having their children stand in front of him for the photo op. After the petting zoo and plenty of hand sanitizer (provided by the zoo) we compared our “wingspan” to those of a bee hummingbird, eagle, vulture and condor among others. Although my daughter wasn’t so keen on the idea, we put our heads into a lion’s mouth...to get a drink out of the drinking fountain. Ah to have remembered the camera!
Past the lions head we encountered some very randy monkeys. I won’t go into detail! But upon leaving I felt a bit violated. I quickly ushered the children on to the next exhibit. I thought they’d enjoy the apes, but instead were drawn to a small cage with a hedgehog running circles-seemingly to capture our attention. The kids asked what it was and when I told the it was a hedgehog, my daughter proclaimed that it looked more like a “pork chop”. I think she was trying to say porcupine but it didn’t come out right. I laughed about that for a while!
The zoo is shaped in a pseudo-circle, as to allow many exhibits to be viewed from more than one location. While outside admiring the lions, there were people viewing them from behind glass in a building to our left. The best part of the day was when my son looked at the people and said, “Wow Mom, what’s that’s exhibit?” referring to the people inside. I chuckled about the “human exhibit” well, I’m still chuckling about it! Kids say the darnedest things!
You know though while I was sitting on a bench watching wild animals and birds act like we are their friends it occurred to me that these animals live in protected areas and likely always have. They’ve been taught not to fear humans. I saw a correlation between how those animals acted and how I view Christianity. I’ve lived as though satan and sin are not to be avoided because I’m “protected” by God. There’s probably more that could be applied to my life, but for that that’s enough!
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"The zoo is a place for animals to study the behavior of human beings." Unknown
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