Greater Knowledge

Paul and Peggi sitting on Veterans Memorial Bridge
Paul and Peggi sitting on Veterans Memorial Bridge

Our walk yesterday was interrupted with a visit to the Seneca Park Zoo. That should be a yearly stop for everyone just to keep the lid on our humanity. There is a major expansion going on with red and white concrete trucks rumbling by the the lions’ den. When the new buildings are ready they will tear down the original 1930’s yellow brick building, the one with the sign near the old entrance that reads, “Rochester Zoological Building – To the citizens of Rochester this building is dedicated. May the observation of the denizens of the wild afford pleasure and lead to a greater knowledge of the natural sciences.”

We spent time outdoors with the grey wolves, the lions and sea lions. We watched the tiger pace back and forth and were mesmerized by the elephants trunks. The rhino looks absolutely pre-historic. We were introduced to the exotic Pied Tamarin and Red Rumped Agouti. I felt like a kid again. My family used to come to this park to swim in the public pool but I can’t even remember where that was now. Peggi made some movies of the lemurs. They played a central role in her song, one we performed as Personal Effects, and she is planning to make a video to that song.

We left the zoo on foot and walked across the walking bridge to Maplewood Park, another Frederick Law Olmsted Park on the west side of the river. Instead of retracing our steps from there we tried walking across the Veterans’ Memorial Bridge at rush hour, a near death experience on the narrow sidewalk with three lanes of cars speeding toward you. I used the timer on my camera to record this shot of us on the other side.

Personal Effects self titled EP on Cachalot Records 1982
Personal Effects self titled EP on Cachalot Records 1982
2 Comments

2 Replies to “Greater Knowledge”

  1. A friend gave me a birthday card yesterday with a Lemur on the cover and I told her about the song Love Never Thinks. I related the simile of the lovelorn staring from a tree branch, with longing and forlorn, at the world through large orange eyes

  2. Almost went to the Zoo a week or so ago. I was going to drive up there, not walk.
    After reading about your quest for greater knowledge, now I really want to visit the Zoo. Maybe I’ll walk part the way.

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