It's chilly out there...

Curiosity has its own reason for existing

– Albert Einstein

Visiting a zoo generally makes me feel a little conflicted. I really enjoy seeing exotic animals up close, but the thing that bothers me is knowing most of them are free-ranging creatures living in confined spaces through no choice of their own.

My professional life has allowed me to travel to many places. When doing so, I have tried to absorb as much of the local culture as possible. 

On these trips, I have visited some zoos. This weekend, I spoke at a conference and had the opportunity to visit a most interesting place – the Minneapolis Snow Zoo. In some ways, it is different from those I’ve seen in other places.

What do you see in a Snow Zoo you might ask?  Polar Bears? Penguins?  A natural question for the uninformed but no, it is not that kind of zoo. To fully appreciate this experience, you must live in the very Deep South, the desert southwest or southwest coastal regions of the county. Not surprising, for people living in the aforementioned regions, it takes courage, a strong will, or in my case speaking at a conference, to visit the Snow Zoo. It is noteworthy the Minneapolis Snow Zoo is only open part of the year. That’s right – the winter season. So my timing was good.

Like other zoos, short visits are best. You know, take a little time to see something out of the ordinary and then go home. Out of the ordinary, in this case, would be anything outside in the frigid air! 

For the visitor, there are unique things to see. For example, low, medium and quite high piles of plowed snow sit like miniature mountains on the sides of runways and the edges of streets. These frozen piles of white stuff apparently grow larger as the season progresses. 

Usually, when on display, the two-legged inhabitants of this place have multicolored coats covering their skins. While sometimes you cannot see their faces, you can tell they are alive by the intermittent puffs of steam emerging from their partly masked faces.

Once and awhile the inhabitants can be seen with four-legged companions. But during the season it is a relatively rare experience. A good part of the day, the bipeds hide out of sight in warm boxes and other times they are not even available to see at all. You see, a lot of them are seasonal migrators. Wingless as they are, they are identified by their Latin name Non Alatum Frigicus Avoidicanus, more commonly referred to as snowbirds.

As an inhabitant of the Sonoran Desert, I was given the rare opportunity to visit this place this weekend. Typically when I return home from trips, I have the opportunity to talk about the things I saw. This lasts for a few days, then slips away as the experience drifts quietly into the depths and possibly inaccessible regions of my mind.

When asked by friends to recommend places I have seen, I enjoy providing suggestions. In this case, I suggest Minneapolis is a great place to visit...IN THE SUMMER!

The Snow Zoo? It's a chilling experience!

ted