A day at the zoo!

New York City or "The city" as I like to call it is a strange and fascinating place.  Growing up on Long Island not too far away, The city became a familiar place to visit and after  four years of college, living upstate, in the middle of nowhere, I was desperate to move to this beautiful, exciting, shiny place.  I have now been living in Queens as close to Manhattan as you can get for over a year and I now have a different perspective on living in this great city.

I dreamed about living here for so long and thought that this would be the perfect place for me what with the endless distractions and countless people to meet, but I never realized how isolating this city can be and how lonely it can make you feel.  8 million people live here and tons of tourists visit everyday; you can find any activity you can imagine and some of the best food and drinks in the world.  But of those 8 million people only a handful are my friends and of all those things to do 99% of them require a 30 minute plus subway ride and a significant amount of money.  I often find myself at a loss for things to do when work is slow.  Who do I call?  Where do I go?  How much money do I spend on meaningless distractions?  Usually I just curl up on my couch and watch 80 episodes of Say Yes to the Dress and wind up cooking and baking until it is time to go to bed, but often I long for fresh air and a small town to explore where no one will bother me while I sit for hours sipping a cup of cappuccino and reading or writing.

Today is the most gorgeous kind of fall day - it is overcast and has been drizzling from time to time, but in my jeans and light coat I am neither cold nor hot and I am relatively without work to do.  Since the weather shifted into fall I have been having a particular ache for fresh air and today I finally decided to do something about it.  So here I am hanging out with a peacock and the flamingos, eating lunch and writing this blog!

My lunch buddy!

Of all the things I dish out money for my favorite and most well spent yearly expense is my zoo membership.  I have an individual premium membership, which allows me and a guest to get into any of New York City's 4 zoos and the aquarium.  I highly recommend this deal as it supports a good cause and I have certainly gone enough times for it to be worth the money.  I think I go to the zoo (one of them) about once a month both on my own and with my boyfriend (who never complains!)  I absolutely love zoos, especially the New York ones!  I just love getting in some fresh air while the animals simply captivate me.  I could never get bored of going to the zoo.  Every time I go I see something new and something incredible.  And I always have my favorites that I must see as if I were visiting an old friend.

Today I took an hour trip all the way up to the Bronx Zoo by myself while everyone else is still at work or in school.  Going back to the strangeness of big city life is the intimidating, yet satisfying ritual of doing an activity completely by yourself.  Again, you would think that I could find someone to go to the zoo with (especially since I can get them in for free!)  But of the limited people that I would want to go with all of them tend to be terribly busy and therefore unavailable when I finally find the time myself.  So it is up to me to rally my motivation, which can be limited too, and get my butt on the subway.  It is all on me to entertain myself for the hour trip there and back and when I get tired or frustrated or bored I have no one to complain to, except the polar bear.  But as hard as it can be to take that first step out the door, it can be so refreshing to know, in an extrapolating kind of way, that I can take care of myself and am truly independent.  My reward for my efforts are the 3, now grown tiger cubs napping together and my pal and all time favorite polar bear playing with an ice-berg like toy and even the rarely spotted grizzly bear swimming in it's pond.  Already I am feeling revitalized, refreshed, and happy that I came and I still have so many more animals to see.

He's playing!!!!!!!!!

I just find such peace from the smells, sights, and sounds of these lovely creatures, living their lives, playing and enjoying themselves and their friends.  I love New York City dearly, but it is nice to come here and feel like I am surrounded by friends.  I know that here everything I need is within walking distance and that walking around my lungs will be filled with fresh air instead of the rank smells of the subway.  The zoos, and especially the Bronx Zoo today, are my little escape, my little paradise.  After today's trip I will have a little more patience for the noise of the subways and the stench of the streets or maybe I will even have a bit more willingness to line up my schedule with a good friend of mine's.  But even if tomorrow I return to my pajama and tv watching ways, at least instead of a day of stress and pressure I had a day or smiles and peace.

Time to go find the baby sea lion!

Baby got bigger since the last time I saw her :)