We walk through the zoo with a full day of sun. Lots of children are on school break. Muslim families enjoyed a day out after Ramadan. Tourists wear gear with the word “Seattle” on everything. Diversity is a wonderful concept, except when people talk to each other. An armed security guard conspicuously wanders through the Sahara.
Many exhibits are devoid of animals; some are cared for by staff, and others are out of sight, sleeping or hiding from noisy humans. I have always found zoos depressing, even with conservation missions and outcomes. We jostle for glimpses of nearly extinct species seemingly bored and deprived of stimulation; a toucan stares at painted greenery on a wall, a monkey hangs on the Truman Show netted limits of their rubber jungle, and birds sit on branches closer to the crosshatched sky.
My kids are engaged, and the exhibits spark curiosity. They are doing something analog, which gives me so much joy. “I have almost 10,000 steps, and it’s still only early afternoon.”
As Jonathan Haidt said in his new book The Anxious Generation, “Screens lead us to forget that our physical bodies matter.”
Today, we feel our bodies.
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