Kim and I just got home from San Diego late last night. We’ve had a crazy busy past few months on the speaking circuit, and are happy to be home and looking forward to a week off. On Wednesday, we had a chance to visit the world-famous San Diego Zoo. We got to see pandas for the first time and collected some great footage for an upcoming episode of Escape Plan TV.
I love zoos. Every time I go to one, I always find myself thinking, “Man, God is awesome.” I have always been a big fan of God’s boundless creativity (big surprise coming from an artist, huh?). One of the latest entries in the “He Thought of Everything” category is a little tidbit I picked up from the tour guide about vultures. She said that most birds of prey have bald heads, which helps keep them from picking up disease-carrying bacteria while digging in to their meal.
And here I thought it was because they were big Stone Cold Steve Austin fans.
Another thought that came to mind as Kim and I marveled at things like anteaters, meerkats, and hippos was how obvious it was that God sure had fun with his creation. It shows in his work.
And I wonder how many of us can have the same said about us.
Do you enjoy your work? Are you having fun? Does it show?
[tags]San Diego Zoo, pandas, hippos, meerkats, anteaters, vultures, God, faith, fun[/tags]
Jason, I enjoy zoos too, and spent a summer as a “zoo camp” counselor taking first graders into the animals’ quarters, watching the animals’ food being made, learning about the Species Survival Plan (http://www.aza.org/ConScience/ConScienceSSPFact/), and helping kids learn about things like why vultures are bald. :-)
However, I can’t help feeling guilty enjoying the zoo, because we may be having fun, but are the animals?
Zoo camp counselor, huh? Sounds pretty cool, Lisa.
I sometimes wonder about how much the animals enjoy being in the zoo, too — especially the ones in the smaller cages.
But I definitely think it’s good for the animals that regular folks can see them firsthand. Hopefully helps us appreciate and respect the animals, making us think twice beforre we mow down their habitat or kill them for fancy clothes and jewelry. I also take heart in knowing that all the zookeepers I’ve run across LOVE the animals they take care of. I have a hard time believing that they’d stand for anything less than stellar conditions… that’s my two cents!
I agree, sometimes I wonder how the animals would be out in the wild & wish I could observe them there. I know some places have open zoos, but probably not here in the U.S. That would be very cool to see though – animals in their natural habitat. :)
That’s awesome! I’m constantly amazed by God’s creation. It’s incredible!!
The mention of hippos reminded me of my cousin, who took Japanese in high school (she graduated last year…which is odd, because I could swear she was just born). :-) The first Japanese phrase she taught me was “Anata no kaba wa doko desuka?” or “Where is your hippo?” I asked her if they actually taught her that in class, and she said, “No, but it can be applied.” I tried it on a Japanese friend later, and she sounded confused. She said, “Where is my hippopotamus?” I said, “Yes!” Wow…simple pleasures… :-) (Of course, I asked my Japanese friend the same thing a few weeks later and she pointed at me in response. I then indignantly said, “Hey!!”) :-)