A mentor told me a few months ago that if I want to write, I have to “be always writing.” She encouraged me to mine everything I can for inspiration, and to not be afraid to share what I am thinking and feeling with others.
Inspiration can be hard to find, though, especially for a woman caught in a never-ending web of computers, cell phones, and electronic gadgets and trapped far away from her muse. I am still working toward embracing those technologies that help me share my vision with others, and rejecting those that feel like they take over my life; in the meantime, the more pressing question is how to bring Alaska and her inspiration to me when I live so far away?
A few week ago I spent the day at the San Diego Zoo, one of my favorite places in the bustling city the Navy has named as my home for the next few years. I enjoy the Zoo for the obvious reasons, but also because it is one of the few places in this industrialized cityscape that I can remember with little effort what it feels like to stand on mountains in Alaska. Some days, especially when I am tired and run down, it can be hard to remember what it feels like to stand in crisp air by myself. The combined neurotic energies of millions of people can be suffocating.
The land of the midnight sun makes me want to write more than I want to eat, paint things I did not know my hands could see, and pray without ceasing to draw breath. I could not quiet my soul on those mountains if I tried.
The Zoo’s mass of colors brings those feelings back to some degree. I like to take a notebook to the polar bear exhibit and think about Alaska. While the crowds can be overwhelming and the stroller brigades tire me out, I enjoy listening to the people around me learn. They’re not in front of a television, they stepped away from the computer for a day, they make the effort to get outside… maybe one day their hands will pour forth words like mine want to.
Highlights of the day included checking out the new “Elephant Odyssey” exhibit, which opened that day and is absolutely breathtaking; watching two baby monkeys wrestle with each other in a manner that reminded me of my cats, Max and Kaiser (I laughed until I could have cried, truly); and watching three juvenile tigers frolic and play fight in their space. We also saw a hippo walk underwater for a very long time, and a turtle from Asia with a freakishly long neck. While Jason was teaching me how to photograph moving water, a peacock wandered within one foot of us!
We’ll be back soon (after all, I have a lot to write), but until then, here are a few photos to share:
