A Visit to the Zoo

I am overwhelmed by all the wishes,prayers and hugs coming my way.I don't know how else to thank everybody. Hence this note.
When I wrote the previous post, I was in a state of shock. All that I needed was some assurance,some hope. I am still grappling to come to terms with what is.
I have no doubts in my mind as to what I should do at this hour of crisis.
I thank everybody for all your love and support.
Sometimes along the path of life, you come across things that appear black and white. But a closer look would reveal shades of grey, albeit microscopic at some levels. I am traveling one such path today.
But I`m smiling. Because I`m not alone..

On a brighter note,to celebrate the last day of Spring Break, The G and I went to the Como Zoo here at the Twin Cities. It was a perfect day.
Bright, colorful parents frantically running behind excited children. Excited children running around the enclosures, shouting "Mr. Tiger, Mr.Tiger, Can ye hear me?!!". Mr. Tiger hiding behind dark shadows and pretending not to hear.
Ohh and there were penguins too! Tiny flapping,waddling baby penguins that stood on the artificial banks and stared back. One even flapped its tiny wings in response to my wild flailing!
A growling,irate Gorilla sitting at the mouth of a cave,occasionally shielding its eyes from the intrusive glare of cameras.
Two big Orangutans. The Mommy clutching a ragged cloth with one long hand and the branches with the other, as she made her way to the top of the enclosure. A little baby hanging onto her neck and licking her all the while. And then perching on the top most branch, She wiped her little baby with the rag and looked down on us. We looked up and smiled.She merely smirked.
There was lots to see really.
One lone Zebra that stood there and hung its head. A mother giraffe that pushed its baby back and paced about guardedly.
Happy, dancing sea lions that came up for food every now and then. And dived back into the waters. Swimming their way through life.
A senile,doddering lion that lay with his head on a roll of rubber tyre. Submissive. Resigned. Tired. A bright colorful throng danced around the enclosure,making absurd gestures to draw his attention. A harried mother clung onto her charge for dear life.
"Look at his eyes! Can you see how angry he is?"
The child stood back and stared. So did I.
Indeed there was a glaze in those eyes.
I stared long and hard.
What it anger?

I came back home,humbled.

I woke up this morning to yet another new day. And it is the same. As alike, as it is distorted. As distorted as yesterday was from the day before. And I wonder how it will be tomorrow. I don't see a pattern. I don't remember what I was thinking when I woke up, or what I dreamt, or what was the last thought I had before I fell asleep.
And I wonder.
The leaves of the trees move with the wind but there is never the same pattern in which the tree will sway.
I think about those fleeting moments when I`ve marveled at the beauty of the creator.The last time it was the smile of a two year old. As also, the loving caress of a mother orangutan. Or the lion as it lay with his head on a roll of rubber tyre. Finally he can relax, let go. The fight is over. The inevitable has occurred. Yet the look in his eyes stays clear in my mind.
What did it say?
Was it anger? Was it fear? Was it pain? Was it a glaze of tears or Was it just my imagination?
And today as I wake up, still not out of bed, those eyes..they flash in front of me for one solitary second. And I think to myself.
But He was Born Free. Oh He was Born Free!
No one Should take that away from him, don't you think..