Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Trapped In Roswell

After the cave tours, I headed up to visit Roswell, New Mexico. As with most people, I figured it would be a sleepy town with a lot of alien references, and it didn't disappoint. There was a downtown with all the alien merchandise you need and an old theatre converted into an alien museum.

I didn't really want to tour the museum so I decided to stop at the visitor center to see what else the town had to offer. She gave me a library of magazines and maps and told me all about the city in a speed speech. After I gathered my bags of information she said, "have an out of this world adventure!"

Most of the things I hung on to came with the word FREE attached to it. Since I am such an animal lover, the city had one of the only free zoos. It was right around the corner so I decided to take a tour.

Maybe it's just me, but zoos make me pretty sad. I want to open up all of the cages and set all of the animals free. Or take them home, but then they would still be in a restricted environment. I could see it now, the car packed with Max, my grandparents, a bald eagle, fox, antelope, bear, mountain lion and a coyote. Now, THAT would be an "out of this world adventure!"

I walked around the property and watched the animals slowly moving around in their cages. There were only 3 other people roaming around with me so I was able to observe them with little interruption. They just seemed so sad to me. It was especially depressing to see the bald eagle, our national symbol of freedom...caged.

Also, I have kept my eyes peeled on the road for coyotes so I don't hit them and also to try and capture them in a photograph. The only one I have seen alive is the one caged at the zoo. I also saw a bear and now that I have been wishing to see one in person to get a photograph...um...they are pretty big. I don't think Max would have a chance.

I was moved by a portfolio by Lauren Grabelle called Natural Boundaries. She did an excellent job at capturing animals in a caged environment. To see her portfolio, click here.