Franklin Park Zoo, Boston

I hadn't been to the zoo in decades. It didn't feel right! The worldwide web leads me to believe that the exotic creatures of this wide planet are within a wikipedia search. If you're like me, you've probably seen one million times more crocodile purses, leopard-print pumps, and peacock feather earrings than their living inspirations.

For a $14 cost of admission, the Franklin Park Zoo offers the sights of your favorite animals as well as some healthy philosophical perspective. The grounds are quite expansive and the walkways are wide and smoothly paved (perfect for those parents with strollers). The whole animal kingdom seems to be covered, from giraffes, to flamingoes, to tarantulas, tree frogs, camels, prairie dogs, lemurs, and some very amusing fighting beetles.

As an adult, sleeping lions don't hold as much enchantment for me. But I had some undeniably nice memories. There was one cage in the bird sanctuary containing a kookaburra, who seemed perfectly content to be sung to (because I spontaneously began to lyricize that he was sitting in an old gum tree...). In the primate exhibit, a huge ape, noticing some children banging their little palms on the glass, picked up a bucket of water and -- *plunk* -- it was on his head, worn like a hat!

We all roared with laughter!

Walking through the primate exhibit especially, it's impossible not to consider the question of how we found ourselves on the "good side" of the glass and all the implications therein. Where did we come from? Did the birds evolve from dinosaurs? Did we evolve from apes? Are we all connected? As much to the chimpanzees as to the kookaburra? In one way or another, are we still in the jungle competing with one another for limited resources? Does our society encourage survival of the fittest? Are we finished evolving?

For me, the zoo raises as many questions as it answers with its educational signage. Easily the best zoo I've been to in decades!