The beautiful ants.

We do actually miss Apu a lot, and although it's never easy when he leaves, it does get slightly easier with every day that passes. 

Today we hit the zoo, AGAIN. We mainly go for the nice playground and bug exhibit (don't ask). 

Mom has a love hate relationship with these establishments. On the one hand, it gets her out of the house and guarantees a nap, but on the other, it's so sad to see these animals in tiny little enclosures week after week. You can just tell it they don't belong there, being pointed at by people who seem to think they have conquered the world. And it makes her stomach turn that her yearly pass is contributing to this perpetual not-niceness. 

The fact is, everyone/thing deserves to live their lives freely...even the long legged flamingos, hairy tarantulas and all the beautiful ants (that I watched for a good ten minutes today). 

It made mom think of her ALL TIME favorite book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. It was assigned in her last class of graduate school...the ONLY class worth taking in hindsight, but that's another blog. 

"Any species that exempts itself from the rules of competition ends up destroying the community in order to support its own expansion."

If you choose to only read one more book in life time, you may want to pick this up.