Zoo

I spent the day at the Bronx Zoo with the town crier. Wednesday is donation day. All excited at first, once in the zoo, I couldn't help but wish that I'd been taking photos of creatures in their natural environments. Wishing I could see them triumphant, delicate, wild, real. I know, I'd end up with a tiger gnawing on my leg.

What is a zoo? A microcosm of the world built in the middle of a city. Somehow it seems so unnatural, unnecessary. I guess for smaller creatures it doesn't seem so unjust. But those that roam over plains, and those that migrate. I'm conflicted.

And yet still, here I am, leaning over the railing, peering up to see the two-toed sloth. In awe as the snowy owl makes a 360 with his head. Touched as a peacock with her newborn chicks passes. Waxy tree frogs, camels, a lion and lioness. And lemurs! There is a Madagascar exhibit full of various lemurs. A glimpse of a different life. What would it be like if these were the animals in your daily life?

The Delta Skyfari (aside: is there anything out there anymore without corporate sponsorship?) takes you up above the zoo. In the air, the city seems so far away. The skyscrapers barely discernible. A thin layer of gray haze lurking above steel, asphalt, exhaust. I guess, it's its own zoo. Hopefully, the animals are far enough away from that glorious chaos.