Zoo meander

We went to the zoo on Sunday.

I have to admit to being a bit ambivalent about zoos.

I know they are no longer the places with cement cages and iron bars that were prevalent when I was young …but they are still places where wild animals are kept in captivity.

I appreciate that, nowadays, zoos do a lot of good conservation work …but they are still places where wild animals are kept in captivity.

I know too that they have to keep animals that are not yet endangered … elephants, giraffes, lions, zebras, hypos and the like ...to attract the visitors whose entrance fees help to keep the zoo going. And they are great places for kids to have a look at some of these magnificent creatures and maybe, hopefully get to understand them better …but they are still places where wild animals are kept in captivity.

Posing! This meerkat is the King of his castle.

Please don't touch. Do we really need to tell humans this?

What a beautifully symmetrical backside!

And what about this specimen?

Nice shoes!

Doing what she oughta!

Do you know the song about the little white duck doing what he oughta?

Well, we are looking after df’s daughter’s cat … AGAIN … and I suppose she was just doing what cats do … but when df drove his car out of the yard this morning here’s what I found underneath...

… not nice!

AND I didn’t have to look very far to find the guilty one.

Couldn’t she, at least, have eaten the poor bird? That would have made its sad demise worthwhile … so as the song goes - Boo hoo hoo.

Just juxtaposed…

I took these two photos one after the other …

This one on the old bridge … fishing for fish…

… and this one looking towards the new bridge… fishing for cars!

Yeah! I’ve voted….

Yes, we too have an election and it’s today. By tonight we may, or may not, have a new government and Prime Minister.

The choice – go with Labour and Helen or go for change with John and National.

If the polls are correct then people are going to follow the Americans and vote for change. There’s some big differences though – the Nationals are a right of centre party … and Helen (unlike Bush) hasn’t been doing a bad job really … but she is going for her fourth term and people are bored.

Oh well! Tonight we’ll know….

UPDATE: Labour lost and Helen has stepped down :(

The turnaround!

I’ve done some magic... honest. I’ve made my little people BIG ... look...You see this bridge? That’s the one I drive across every weekday on my way to and from work.

I often glance across at the old bridge... the much more interesting one that people fish off. Well, on Sunday df and I decided to explore new parts of our neighbourhood and ended up down on the old bridge... a familiar place seen with new eyes!

There were lots of people out there doing their fishing thing.

Families...

... loners...

... buddies...

... and just look at this lady! She seems to have found a special spot under the bridge. Maybe she knows something nobody else knows.

At the other end of the bridge, away from the fish people ... a biker went on his merry way!

Was it the Kinks who sang, Lazing on a sunny (Sunday) afternoon? That's exactly how it felt.