Brain Cells on Parade

My day job held an offsite event on Friday at Brookfield Zoo. What is Brookfield Zoo? Well, it’s a zoo, and it’s in Brookfield. You’re welcome. The formal events of our morning session are strictly confidential and may not be discussed in this forum (they involve secret handshakes, decoder rings, and the like), but we were cut loose at lunchtime to enjoy the zoo, and I brought along my camera…


The King of Beasts took the day off Friday. It was a sunny, sultry afternoon and I couldn’t really blame him for not wanting to entertain the clothed primates that kept parading by. The last time I was at Brookfield Zoo, one of the lions decided to let loose a roar. It was one of the most impressive and fearsome things I’ve ever heard. I’m sure his voice carried for a mile or more.


The Butterfly House is a large room with high screened ceilings, so it is in the open air while keeping its hundreds of butterflies confined. It took me many shots to come up with this one, though photographs cannot really do justice to the place. It was, however, a place where I felt a clear twinge of envy for the camera that meryddian had brought along. She was able to push her lens within millimeters of butterflies, flowers, and most notably cicadas and still get a clear shot. But this is as it should be – she is a serious, ambitious, and prolific photographer, and can fully exploit the potential of such a tool.


My favorite of the photos I took that day. The little guy on the left (the giraffe, not the human) is only 5 months old. I’m probably correct in assuming that his mom is next to him keeping an eye on things. I’m probably incorrect in assuming that the next giraffe over is his dad, but I’m going to assume it anyway.


These happy folks all work in my department. Some of them have worked with me for over a decade. [Your punchline here]


Yes, they have a merry-go-round at Brookfield Zoo. I took this picture because I looked up and saw a beautiful combination of color and geometry and I wanted to try to capture it.


This is an addax. Wikipedia tells me that “… the addax is a critically endangered desert antelope that lives in several isolated regions in the Sahara desert…” Like our friend the lion, this fellow was lying low in the afternoon sun.


If you thought the lion and the addax were low-energy, you should have seen this kangaroo. I walked right up to her and I swear she never moved a muscle!