who's who. . .

in the zoo?

This past weekend consisted of my parents and two out of my three siblings (Erin and Jason) visiting the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. We thought it was time to find something fun to do as a family, so we outweighed our options and came to a consensus that a trip to the Minnesota Zoo would be fun. None of us had been to a zoo for years, so we thought that, although somewhat kiddish, it would be fun. As I wandered about the zoo, observing the different animals, I couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards the caged beings, especially animals like birds and leopards - animals that are born to run and soar - not to sit stationary, day after day. The everlong paths along 'the northern trail' featured animals found in the midwest, mostly. As we came upon the turkeys, which we are all more than familiar with, I just sat on the deck and stared down at them for a while. Bird feeders were hung above the ground-dwelling turkeys, who would run to the feeders once the birds started eating, in hopes of snatching a dropped seed or two. The turkeys were lucky to have such a 'natural habitat' - they were merely in a fence outside, almost like a set-up that you would see at a farm. Just then, a small, yet plump, squirrel caught my eye - as it sat comfortably on a tree branch just above one of the feeders and a few feet from us. It stared at me and I stared right back - At that exact moment, I wondered which one of us was the spectator and which one was the exhibit.