April 8, 2001
CYBERCOLUMN:
A child's-eye view of the zoo
___By Brett Younger
___Bryn, 8, wanted to see a parrot named Polly. Paityn, 6, wanted to see a peacock name Peter. Kristyn, 2, wanted to a see a purple dinosaur named Barney. When I said I wanted to see a puppy dog or a kitty cat, my nieces groaned.
______When we decided to go to the Fort Worth Zoo, Bryn and Paityn talked about riding leopards, chasing zebras, wrestling alligators and holding anacondas. I was tempted to lower their expectations and point out that some anacondas don’t like to be held, but then thought better of it.
___When we arrived at the zoo, the cynical adult in me tried to get in the way. I reflected on how glad I am not to be the guy with the shovel tending the elephants. I wondered, "What kind of mother raises the person who cares for the Komodo dragons?" I also had second thoughts when I saw that some of the animals now have corporate sponsors—"Cheetos' Cheetahs," for instance. Maybe TCU should sponsor the frogs. Terminix sponsors Penguin Island. If I were a penguin, th
Brett Younger
at would bother me.
___Fortunately, I had three little girls to help me leave my cynicism behind and return to reality. Unlike her uncle, Paityn, the first grader, gave everything her complete attention. She howled at the monkeys, found the flamingos beyond explanation (they stand on one foot to regulate body temperature). Paityn was as wonder-struck by it all as if she had been transported to Wonderland.
___She screamed, "Little baby monkeys!" more than once. She screamed, "Uncle Brett, come see this" dozens of times. Once when I shouted: "Come quick! I see a squirrel!" she rolled her eyes. Six may be the perfect age to go to the zoo.
___We learned some fascinating facts. When chimps smile, it’s because they’re stressed and it makes them feel better. Try it. We learned that not only do footballs and hot dogs come from pigs, but so does chalk. Did you know Columbus was the first European to see an American alligator? Wouldn’t that send you home for good?
___ We went to the Old West exhibit that has everything you would expect from an old western town—stagecoaches, general stores, a blacksmith and a Pizza Hut. (Sorry, that was the cynical adult in me.)
___ We saw lots of what my nieces consider Disney characters. They named one of the snakes "Jafar," the orangutan "King Louie," the meerkat "Timon" and the warthog "Pumba."
___ We watched a tortoise walk so slowly that we have newfound disrespect for the hare. We saw a parrot that may have been named Polly.
___ We saw ducks, storks, vultures, gazelles, kangaroos, koalas and kudus. We also saw mandrills, wallabies, bongos, gibbons, wattled cranes, Burmese pythons, green mamba boas, Mexican beaded lizards, Vietnamese leaf-nosed snakes and blotched blue-tongued skinks. We saw animals Marlin Perkins only dreams about, and if I had gone by myself I would have missed most of it.
___ Some of us need children to help us mature, or cynicism will get in our way. What we need is not a renewed childhood (no one with children uses the phrase "childlike innocence"), but a renewed sense of childlike awe. Rainer Maria Rilke wrote: "Most people simply don’t know how beautiful the world is and how much splendor is revealed in the smallest things, in a common flower, in a stone, in the bark of a tree or the leaf of a birch. Grown-up people who have occupations and cares and who worry themselves about mere trifles gradually lose the eye for these riches, while children, if they are observant and good, quickly notice and love with their whole heart."
___ Jesus suggested that we become as little children. We need to be born anew into a fresh awareness of the world, using all five senses, and rediscovering the vision we never really lost.
___ Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth.
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