This young puma paced restlessly, completely uninterested in anything outside her cage, until someone came by with a couple of small children. Then the puma’s attitude changed abruptly: it was instantly clear where she saw herself, relative to small humans, on the food chain.
Why did the peacock cross the road?
I love zoos, because I love seeing the animals. But zoos also make me sad, because I’d rather see those animals in the wild (a few times in my life, I’ve had that privilege), and so many species are becoming rare outside of zoos. But zoos like this one are contributing to conservation efforts, in hopes that someday we may be able to restore wild habitats and reintroduce the animals to them.
This young grizzly was one of a pair that had to be taken out of the wild because their mother was teaching them bad habits like raiding human garbage cans.
This week I visited my colleagues in Eagan, Minnesota, to capture on film their various expertise (don’t ask me to explain what they do, I stay behind the camera for a reason). There were several other visitors, so the Eagan folks organized a traditional Minnesota potluck, with traditional Minnesota foods such as Mexican lasagna, jello salad, and other hot dishes. Those Tater Tots took me right back to childhood…
Thanks, Eagan gang, for a yummy lunch and very good company. I’ll definitely be back for your next party!
Enrico and I visited Steve and Sharon in Las Vegas, New Mexico (my third visit to them in 12 months!), arriving late Friday night. Saturday we all (including Robin) visited Pecos Pueblo and Santa Fe.
Before entering the park grounds, we toured the visitor center exhibit about the history of Pecos Pueblo. It was well done, as these things usually are at US National Parks, but I find the bloodthirsty history of the Catholic Church upsetting. I left the others watching an antiquated film about the Indians putting the poor, innocent padres to death, without waiting to find out whether it gave equal time to what the Church subsequently (and previously) did to the Indians.
Santa Fe
Enrico and Steve went to the Georgia O’Keefe museum, but I’m not a huge fan and Robin emphatically did not want to go to a museum, so he and Sharon and I ambled around town, looking at art galleries (what’s the difference with museums, from Robin’s point of view? I dunno).
As always, I was most attracted to anything featuring horses, and was delighted to find the work of someone who actually can sculpt them well, Star Liana York. I’ll have to save up first, though…
Also saw some fun and unusual stuff I’d consider buying in Pop Gallery, a refreshing change from the overwhelming (and, in the aggregate, somewhat boring) mass of Southwestern-themed art prevailing in Santa Fe.
There was a “mountain traders’ fair” going on in the courtyard of the Palace of Governors. Sorta like a Renaissance festival, including the love of antique weaponry. Just slightly different costumes. Some of the “mountain people” looked like refugees from “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Aug 13, Monday – Though still tired and sore from our strenuous hike the day before, I went to the Sun gym to do the physical part of my fitness assessment. Even more tired after that!
Aug 17, Friday – Took a 6 pm flight from Denver to Albuquerque, where Steve Ediger, a long-time Woodstock friend, picked me up and drove two hours to where he and Sharon Seto and their son Robin live. Steve and Sharon work at the United World College in Montezuma, New Mexico. The school year was just starting, so Sharon had to be at her dorm to welcome the kids (she supervises a dorm of 45 girls, and also runs the school’s outdoor program).
The hummingbird feeder on the porch is refilled daily, attracting dozens of birds from several species. Heard close to, hummingbirds sound disturbingly like very large insects.
Sunday Sharon and I went to Santa Fe, then Steve drove me back to the airport in Albuquerque.
Another busy week at Sun ensued. I was intensely disappointed to learn that the fitness assessment had been a mistake – as a contractor, I’m not allowed to use the gym! (I hope the nice guy who did it for me didn’t get in trouble for having done the assessment – he was supposed to have checked my badge, apparently.) All my motivation to start getting into shape had to be postponed. I do have his detailed assessment and recommendations to work from, at least.
Aug 26, Sunday – I survived a scary (for me) drive to Conifer, Colorado, to the mountain home of my colleague Charles. He and his wife Elaine had invited me and a long-time friend of theirs, Marj, who graduated from Woodstock in 1978 (she was a lofty senior when I was a lowly freshman, so we hadn’t really known each other in our schooldays). Marj and Elaine had met years before when both were teaching in El Salvador.
It always seems to happen with Woodstockers that we find plenty to talk about even if we didn’t know each other well (or at all) while at school. Marj had brought albums of fascinating photos from a trip she and her husband had made to the far corners of the world – fuel for conversation. Charles and Elaine are no slouches in the travel department, either – they’ve even lived in Antarctica!
