A childhood memory with new insight

"Alone with myself
The trees bend to caress me
The shade hugs my heart."
- Candy Polgar

On a recent adventure into memories of my early childhood, I visited the local zoo in my area with a few friends. Since I was young I've always had a wild fascination with animals - yes, I'm that person who can't help but "ooh and aww" at anything that looks remotely beautiful or adorable. Unlike the few prior visits I made to the zoo, this trip was much more profound and meaningful to me. As a child, wandering in awe at the beautiful sights of the animals was all I could do, but now instead of seeing just the animals I've come to see and sympathize with their struggles to live within an artificially created habitat. Looking at these magnificent animals all I could think was I'm so sorry. I wanted to break them out of their cages and set them all free like a naive child in her first science class. It's so sad that in the process of our own human quest for knowledge and control, we've altered the lives of so many different species. Don't get me wrong, I love learning all that I can about different animals and I know it's difficult to do that without observing them - but why can't we do that in their natural habitats? It may be more wearisome, but how would we feel if we were made to live in cages or a very limited space in order to indirectly teach another species our way of living? Despite my objections to their captivity, in a sense, I loved seeing the animals - they were all so amazing to witness up close. In addition to the wonderful animals, I came across this very large grounded tree along one of the pathways in the zoo. Its great size and protruding roots were mesmerizing - so much so I had to take a picture, I hope you enjoy it; also here are a few more photographs from the trip.

Love,