An afternoon at the zoo

Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day here in San Diego. After a leisurely run on the beach and a stroll down to the public library, I hopped on my Harley and cruised over to Whit & Kathie's house. Whit is in the final crunch of studying for the last of his architect exams, so Kathie and I headed for the zoo! I hadn't been to the San Diego zoo since 1993 when I was out here for a Navy det to NAS North Island.

I have mixed feelings about zoos. I understand that they are needed in order for people to feel a personal connection with animals. Only through that personal connection will people be interested in preserving the habitats of the animals they viewed at the zoo. Even with that thought in my mind as I meander amongst the exhibits, I can't help but feel sorry and a bit ashamed that we are taking enjoyment in animals taken from their natural habitats and locked up for public viewing. Even though they are locked up, it appears that these animals are well taken care of and seem to be thriving in these artificial environments.

In preparation for my impending trip to China this Friday, we swung by the panda exhibit. We had to chuckle as we watched the huge parent pandas sitting in the middle of piles of bamboo and snacking the afternoon away. I guess life isn't so bad when huge piles of your favorite snack is brought out to you without any effort on your part!

As I was out here in San Diego enjoying the mild winter weather, I received this picture from my nephew Andy. He is currently going to college in Monroe, Louisiana where this picture was taken. Yes, that's snow in March in north Louisiana! He's standing on the top of the football stadium overlooking the field and the campus beyond it. Crazy weather!!!

That's the update for now. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and hopefully I'll be able to blog from Beijing next week!