With a kid’s eyes — colorful, happy, simple, fast.
With wonderment and innocence.
With awe and surprise. My eyes glistening, my mouth wide open, my breath short.
With a zeal to enjoy the moment. Live in it. And then move on to the next.
With equal excitement.
I saw wonderful things this past weekend at the California Academy of Sciences.
Thirty-eight thousand fish in vivid technicolor — personalities ranging from the quiet and reserved to the prancing and twirling show-offs; expressions ranging from the morbid to the ever-joyful; energy ranging from the languid to the sprightly. All beautiful in their own way.
I was mesmerized by the electric eel, the light emitting firefly-like fish, and the leafy sea dragon. Surprised at the agility of the water snakes . And kept retracing my steps to the glass fish. There were the five-year-olds huddled around the tide pools. And there was me.
It was a whole new world. And I was a kid who didn’t want to leave.
But on the other side, there were more amazing things to see in the Rainforests of the World: geckos, chameleons, frogs, the anaconda, and hundreds of butterflies.
I was transported to Costa Rica, Borneo, Madagascar, the Amazonian flooded forest. The smells, the sounds, the sights all teasing me — here was just a taste. A sampling, if you will. It strengthened my resolve to visit these places … some day … and to appreciate all the ordinary, yet so extraordinary, inhabitants we share this planet with.
To see the world with new eyes. To enjoy. To relish. To take in the beauty.
To see wonderful things.
Oh, to be a kid again.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Mansi Bhatia
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Glad you enjoyed this lovely place. Thanks for sharing your excitement & the pictures.
Hugs,
Bill
Mansi, last summer I got to the Minneapolis zoo and like you I was totally captivated, a child. I walked around in the surreal world and stood in awe at the colors, sounds, shapes. Loved the photos and your descriptions. Thanks so much for bringing back to me a treasured memory my ‘busyness’ pushed aside. Bless you!
Thanks, Beth. It’s amazing how much we lose sight of simple pleasures as adults.