Animals in action

Yesterday, I was reunited with some of the Avis clan: my dad's younger brother Graham, his wife Wendy and two of their girls, Jackie and Kristy. We enjoyed a very good picnic and then went on a short hike in order to get a better view of the surrounding area. It was great to see this side of the family, since it has been many years since our last reunion! I remember my cousins as being much younger, but of course, as I grew up so did they!!

For supper, we went to what is apparently a San Diego must, a restaurant called the Souplanation, I think. It was basically a salad and soup bar, but, as with all things American, it was "bigger and better". You start off at a long assembly line type counter, where you put together an elaborate salad... and after doing so, you look up and then see the pasta, pizza, soup, and sundae bars! After eating my huge salad I was quite full, but I still sampled alferdo shells, garlic pizza sticks, apple cobbler, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream and chocolate sauce, and a blueberry muffin! (Notice the trend towards sugar once more...)

Today, Grandpa and I went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which I remember fondly from my previous visits down here. As anticipated, I was awed by the huge elephants, graceful giraffes, and lively monkeys! But, as we wandered around, I couldn't help but think about what would be put in the "human" cages. That is, say there was a zoo in which humans were part of the exhibit, what would be considered our natural environment? Each animal at the park came from a specific habitat that zoologists tried to mimic in the zoo. But humans live in such diverse environments, so what would be considered our "natural" one? And what type of food would be thrown into the cage for us? Would our cages be miniature cities with fake money, jobs, and restaurants? Or would we be put in one of our past natural habitats, and expected to hunt, fish, and pick berries? Or perhaps we'd be put on a farm and made to grow all our food, and tend to livestock in order to survive!