Visiting the Zoo

                                       Visiting the Zoo 

It was an exciting time for the children at South Central Middle School. As was customary, they were about to begin their week of study of animals, highlighted by a trip to a zoo at week's end. Those children who had older siblings knew all too well how exciting this week would be, especially the Friday trip. It was a right of passage that was not only celebrated by the students, but also by the community as a whole as many adults joined the trip, current parents of the children, as well as others who wanted to relive their own childhood experience.

Bobby and Susan Roberts were among the excited middle schoolers. They did not have an older sibling, but were well aware of the adventure that was imminent. Susan was especially excited, having spent many an evening reading about exotic fauna since her aunt and uncle had given her a membership in a national magazine that focused on the natural world. While Bobby's interests leaned towards sports, he did occasionally peruse her magazines, and had recently shown some curiosity about the bigger animals.

As the week of study progressed, the teachers interspersed the drier material with films and a particularly interesting visit from a scientist who had spent her life studying the animals of their field trip destination. In addition to the facts related to those animals, she kept the children on edge with tales of her encounters. 

The night before the week ending excursion, Susan could barely sleep, imaging her future life visiting schools with stories of research and the contacts she would someday experience. 

The next morning, all the excited children and various parents and other adults gathered at the school. It would be an all day event with limited chance to stop for food or drink, so there was much paraphernalia present in the lines waiting for transportation. For this reason, it took quite a while to get everyone settled into their assigned seats, but soon the caravan was on its way to this year's chosen zoo.

As mentioned before, there was a cherished history of these trips embedded in the culture of this and every middle school. While everyone knew the tradition had evolved into its present form generations ago, most didn't delve into the particular history of its inception.

Of course, there was a time when such study of the known flora and fauna was limited to the local area of each school. Field trips of this type were often just long walks into the natural world, led by the science teacher and a local expert who volunteered to share their expertise.

But as time progressed, as the science of the country achieved more and more advances in its understanding of technology, these "visits" began to transcend the local area. At first, a buddy school system was loosely established so that efficiencies could be gained to allow a more intense experience, beyond the local areas of each school.

Gradually, multiple communities partnered, but not just because they shared a common geographic location. The program slowly became one which the common experience of studying nature included the prospect of becoming familiar with children from other countries and cultures. For some, this phase was the culmination of the project as it fostered mutual understanding of both nature and other people.

While there wasn't anyone with such memories, the strategy had worked so well that war among nations had eventually ended. As did the outdated concept of dominion over nature.

Then came the breakthrough in space travel. 

Up until then, scientists had been incrementally accumulating information about the solar systems within the Milky Way galaxy, and the possible planets that may harbor life. As their data gathering methods improved, the list of places within the galaxy where life was detected grew. But their ability to understand the nature of those civilizations remained limited so it was agreed that the communications would remain one way, meaning input would be received, but nothing would be emitted which would reveal their own location in the galaxy.

Of course, none of this would have been accomplished without the cooperation of the various countries that encompassed this world. Once the rather simple, even mundane realization that through cooperation and finding common ground any problem could be solved, any achievement could be realized, advancements came in leaps and bounds. 

Soon, in addition to the innovations being made in space exploration, world wide problems such as poverty, access to clean water and sanitation, the elimination of death from fatal diseases, the health of the environmental, and strife among nations were all addressed from the perspective of solutions rather than blame.

Once everyone was safely seated on their transports, the interstellar crafts departed. Due to the discovery of worm hole dynamics, the actual travel time was far quicker than the assembly and loading of the travelers and their cargo. Within minutes, Bobby, Susan and all those aboard their vessel were in position above their destination planet.

South Central Middle School had been sending its students to a far away planet for many decades. Since there were hundreds of such planets to visit, most of the adults, while having experienced a similar trip, had not been to this particular planet. Unlike the children participating in today's itinerary, they knew that no two destinations were alike. It was just another example of the unfathomable nature of the universe, that there could be so much diversity, yet by that very diversity could unity and peace be attained.

The scientist who had spent time in Susan and Bobby's class earlier in the week, had also volunteered to lead today's excursion. When her voice came over the intercom, all the excited chatter stopped.

"Hello everyone," she began. "Welcome to the first stop on our visit to this planet. As I explained when I spoke to you in class this past week, I have spent much of my life researching the animals and peoples of this planet. They are still in a very early stage of their development, and so are not aware of our existence, nor the existence of any other life forms in the galaxy yet."

There was an audible gasp among the students and adults. Knowledge of other life in the galaxy was among the first things taught to children. It was the foundation upon which everything else was based, as it lead to both an understanding that arguing over material objects as compared to the vastness of the universe was akin to two fleas arguing over who owned the dog they lived on, and the realization that the diversity of life and respecting its importance was the whole point of existence. 

"As you can see, we are over a developed area of this planet," began the scientist. "Functioning infrastructure, an advance business structure of buildings and factories, recreation areas, a water filtration system, etc. Unfortunately, within the same areas where thousands of people live comfortably, there are also areas with people who lack the basic necessities of life, even some without homes."

Again, there was an audible gasp, especially among the children.

"Even kids?" asked one of them.

"Yes, sometimes," was the response. "The leaders of this particular country have created programs to help those without shelter, but they refuse to address the causes, so the problem persists. It is typical of such a planet in this stage of development. And remember, we were like them as well, although that was hundreds of years ago."

The ship next stopped over a continent which featured herds of wild animals roaming freely in the open spaces. The children had seen pictures of some of them during their study week, but being able to see them move and feed in real time drove many of them to the windows to see with their own eyes even though the animals could be seen on the monitors. 

Bobby was among them, gawking, his eyes wide in amazement, as he elbowed his friends who were also equally astounded. Some of the animals resembled those on his own planet, and he and his friends pointed them out as such. But others had no similarity.

"There are so many," remarked one of the adults. 

"Yes," replied the scientist. "But there were many times more not that long ago. Unfortunately, the people of this planet don't value the existence of animals as they should. Now, it has improved in the recent past, as there are organizations which advocate for the saving of animals which are close to extinction. But many species have already died off, and there are still many people who scoff at the notion of putting animal welfare above human needs."

"Do they kill them on purpose?" asked Susan. While she didn't have the same fascination for the big animals that Bobby did, she did possess a more profound understanding of the interconnectedness of all life forms, although she hadn't yet consciously understood the actual nature of that connection. It was a foundation that she would build upon for the remainder of her life, and would inspire her to achieve her goal of being a scientist of the natural world.

"Sadly, the people of this planet do have a history of slaughtering animals for sport. That kind of short term thinking is not uncommon among civilizations in their infancy. They misinterpret dominion over nature as conquering, even wasting it, as opposed to acting as its caretaker."

From here, the ships moved over the oceans of the planet. The children seemed to lose interest for a few moments, the oceans being so large, but that changed instantly when they hovered over a huge island of trash floating below them.

"What is that?!," burst from dozens of mouths in unison.

"This is one of the more egregious results of a lack of concern for nature and the environment. There are a number of such floating trash piles in the oceans of this planet. The reasons are numerous, a rampant consumerism that values possessions over relationships, a business model that promotes product obsolescence, a head in the sand approach to refuse that discourages recycling and encourages waste, but really, its all about a lack of respect for their home."

"But that doesn't make sense," said Susan, whose nascent understanding of nature at ten years old already told her that trashing your home planet was stupid.

"Yes, you are right of course, Susan, but they just don't see it that way. Even though they know they don't have the capacity to live on another planet, don't have the technology to get there or to habituate such a foreign world, they also have an odd belief that their version of the Creator will either not allow them to ruin their home, or will somehow intercede to prevent it. They have missed the most rudimentary point, that you should appreciate what you are given, and by that appreciation, by taking care of that gift, you honor the force that created it in the first place."

The ships made many more stops as the day progressed. The visitors saw the melting ice caps and when those with math skills did some simple calculations, they shook their heads at the impending difficulties that the people of this planet would face, by their own hand. 

At each stop, the scientist pointed out not just the range of animals, but the myriad types of people as well. You see, that was another of the hidden lessons of this trip, another of the reasons why these treks were made to places outside their home solar system. Yes, the various animals that inhabited the galaxy was truly breathtaking, and an easy way to get the children interested in nature, but it was the variety of peoples that was emphasized as well, if on an unconscious, less apparent level. 

They visited an area where war was ongoing. It was an ugly scene of devastation, refugee camps, death, and hatred. Again, the children weren't fully cognizant of why they were shown this, but the adults knew that such exposure demonstrated precisely how little is accomplished by such activity, and why the lessons of always seeking common ground, always putting oneself in the shoes of those with a different perspective, was the bedrock of the success of their home planet.

The leaders of the planet where Bobby and Susan lived knew that there would come a day when the inhabitants of various planets would intermingle, and when that happened, it was lessons such as these which would make those first contacts peaceful rather than violent.

They also spent some time over the natural wonders of the planet, the amazing range of mountains, canyons, rivers and lakes, forests and woodlands. It was truly a beautiful planet, despite the misguided beliefs in progress by the home people.    

There were more stops in which animals' evolution on islands and other such isolated locales was highlighted and discussed. And there were stops where the apex animals of the world were shown in their glory and their failings. And, while those people were not aware of the yearly field trips that came to their world, unaware due to the advanced cloaking technology that had been developed for just this purpose, they were slowly becoming more attuned to the real purpose of life in this galaxy. It was the study if the evolution that particularly interested in the scientist who led this trip.

Whether enough of them would achieve this realization or whether the planet's inhabitants as a group would acquire this knowledge was not possible to predict. More did not than did. 

Back home, as they were being discharged from the ship, Susan approached the scientist, and waited patiently while she answered questions by some of the other children.

"What was the name of the planet we visited?" she asked.

"That is planet S23489," said the scientist. "which is determined by its discovery as related to the other planets in our galaxy." 

"No," said Susan, "what do the people who live there call their planet?" 

"Over the years, many names were given to it. Gaia and Terra have been used. Now they call it Earth."

Susan walked away hoping that the people of Earth be one of the civilizations that would understand the purpose of life, would learn to appreciate the beauty of nature, and would honor their creator by taking care of their pretty blue planet.

 

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I was watching a Carson rerun this morning, and saw an episode with Carl Sagan. I missed the beginning of the show, so am not sure when the episode aired, but as they were talking about the Voyager probes being launched soon I know it must have been from 1976 or so. 

The subject of UFO's and aliens visiting Earth was also broached. Carl expressed skepticism at the idea that we were being actively visited, stating that of all the alleged abductions, there had never been an actual artifact taken from an alien craft. He also stated that there were many natural but unusual activities that occurred in the sky, as well as secret or undisclosed military maneuvers.

Of course, Carl certainly believed it was possible that there was life somewhere in the universe given the vast number of stars in the known universe, but didn't believe that we were actively being abducted, or that aliens were cruising around our atmosphere, allowing us to see them. He was of the opinion, at least at that particular time, that they would either make themselves completely known, or be smart enough to hide their surveillance.

Orson Bean was also on the show, and when Johnny commented that he was concerned that he would be no more than a pet to such advanced creatures, Orson joked that perhaps we already were pets, using the idea that two fish swimming in a fish bowl, arguing about the existence of God, might be certain there is a God since someone was changing the water in the bowl everyday!

As a result of this episode and these comments, I wrote the preceding story.