Why Going to the Zoo Makes Me Sad

Earlier in the summer, my family and I took a trip to Seattle, Washington.  The first full day that we were there we went to the zoo.  We spent almost the whole day there, and I took a lot of pictures (some better than others).  I realized while I was there that being at the zoo makes me kind of sad.  This picture (below) is a good illustration of why that is.

It's not a very good quality picture, and there is a good bit of reflection in the glass, but it is the subject of the picture that tells the story.  While we were there, this gorilla just sat with his (or her, I don't know) back to the glass staring into the distance.  He just seemed sad and like he was really tired of having people look at him all the time. 

I know that there is value to zoos, and that, as a general rule they take good care of the animals and protect them.  But especially when it comes to seeing primates in captivity it makes me feel like I'm visiting a jail just to gawk at the prisoners.  It just feels wrong and it makes me sad.

Oh well, I'm just a bleeding heart anyway, so I guess there is no surprise that I'd feel that way. . .

Red-bellied woodpecker

I've been getting a real kick out of this guy.  He's a red-bellied woodpecker and he's been really enjoying my new bird feeder.  I don't generally think of woodpeckers coming to seed bird feeders, because they usually eat insects, but apparently they eat black-oil sunflower seed, too.  And this one seems to really like them.  But then again, I would bet that eating seeds out of a feeder beats banging your head into a tree, so I can't blame him.

Zebra Swallowtail

I saw this butterfly fluttering around my gazebo a few days ago and decided to take some pictures of it.  I only had my cellphone to take the pics with, and it is a very old Nokia (dumb) phone.  So I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures.

I don't remember ever seeing a butterfly like this one before.  From what I can gather looking online, it is a zebra swallowtail.  The swallowtail shape is new to me.  It just seemed so odd that it's wing are so wide at the top and so narrow at the bottom.  Just not what I think of when I think butterfly.

2014 Book List

Here is a list of the books I read in 2014:

Round Robin - Jennifer Chiaverini
America Again: Rebecoming the Greatness We Never Weren't - Stephen Colbert
206 Bones - Kathy Reichs
Spider Bones - Kathy Reichs
Flash & Bones - Kathy Reichs
Bones Are Forever - Kathy Reichs
Bones of the Lost - Kathy Reichs
The Surgeon - Tess Gerritsen
The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
The Apprentice - Tess Gerritsen
The Sinner - Tess Gerritsen
Body Double - Tess Gerritsen
Vanish - Tess Gerritsen
The Mephisto Club - Tess Gerritsen
The Keepsake - Tess Gerritsen
Ice Cold - Tess Gerritsen
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Raging Heat - Richard Castle
Oral History: A Novel - Lee Smith
And Another Thing. . . - Eoin Colfer
Bones Never Lie - Kathy Reichs
Curiosity Thrilled the Cat - Sofie Kelly

Wow!  I read 22 books this year, which is even more than last year.  This only working 4 months out of the year thing really opens up my time for reading.  As is rather obvious, I'm still tending toward reading books in a series.  I'm currently all caught up on the Bones series by Kathy Reichs and the Nikki Heat series by Richard Castle.  I've made a good dent in the Rizzoli & Isles series by Tess Gerritsen, as well.  There are still more to be read, but I decided to take a break from them and read something a little different.  I had to read Fahrenheit 451 for class.  Honestly, I wasn't really a fan.  I'm enjoying the Magical Cats Mysteries by Sofie Kelly.  In fact, I've already read the next one in the series since the beginning of this year.  I'll probably read them through before I move onto something else.  I've decided that I don't think I really want to read any more of the Jennifer Chiaverini novels.  I like quilting, which is why I started reading them, but they are just a little too much drama for me.