Round Robin Challenge: The Animal Inside

"People go to the zoo and they like the lion because it's scary. And the bear because it's intense, but the monkey makes the laugh."

-Lorne Michaels

Sometimes I think I have an entire zoo living inside me. LOL. On some days I am a turtle, moving very slow and hiding in my shell, and some days I could be described as a sun bear, because I love to lie in the sun and just soak it up...just being a bear, so actually there are a lot of animals I could choose to describe my inner animal, but on one particular visit to the San Francisco Zoo, a few years ago, I saw an orangutan make a statement for all to see, that I completely understood, just by making eye contact with him. He was having one of those days!

At the end of a very trying week, Alan surprised me on Saturday morning by packing a picnic lunch for us and whisking me off to the zoo. He knows how much I love spending time with the animals, and getting some fresh air. For a few hours our of that week...no one in the world knew where I was. Ahhhhhh. LOL. My favorite animals at the zoo are the Lemurs, Chimpanzees, and the Ape exhibits. There was a pretty nice bench right in front of this guys enclosure, so I sat down to watch him for a while.

It was early in the afternoon, and the zoo wasn't too crowded, but this orangutan had already had a bad day. Something had happened to upset his feelings, because he seemed a little tired and a little sad. At one point he got completely tired of the gwakers making silly noises and pointing to him to try and get his attention. Well, completely fed up, he grabbed his Rubbermaid garbage can and his warm brown blanket and dragged both of them to the top of his jungle jim, climbed in, put his brown blanket over his head and then peeked out as if to say..."Get Lost!" LOL It was the cutest thing, and oh boy, did I ever admire him for knowing when to say, enough is enough! LOL

I have been trying to figure out one specific animal that best describes my "animal within," ever since Derek came up with this topic, as an idea for this challenge It's hard for me to narrow it down to just one. I love animals, and I think I have at least one for every one of my moods. LOL. I always think of this orangutan whenever I feel overwhelmed by life, and appreciate the lesson I learned from him that day. Now, I never leave home without my blanket. Thanks Derek, this was a lot of fun. :)

Be sure to visit the other Round Robins, to see their interpretations of this challenge. Just click on the link below, and be sure to visit the Round Robin Journal this Thursday to find out the topic of our next challenge. :)

Derek- Derek's Picture of the Day (AOL)
Through My Eye's (Blogspot)

Karen- Outpost Mavarin

Carly-Ellipsis...Suddenly Carly

Deslily-Here There And Everywhere (AOL)
Here There And Everywhere 2nd Edition (Blogspot)

Sara- Animated Seasons

Nancy- Nancy Luvs Pix

Julie- Julie's Web Journal

Kimberleigh- I Shaved My Legs For This?

Dorn- Through the Eyes of the Beholder

T.J.- Photo Inclusions: Every Picture Tells A Story

Steven- (sometimes) photoblog

Tess- First Digital Photos

-OndineMonet
"Enough Was Enough"
San Francisco Zoo
San Francisco, California