We have a new favorite animal: the zonkey, a zebra-donkey hybrid, on view now in the Gaza Zoo.
Well, OK, not really a "hybrid."
Actually, the zoo's two zebras died recently, so, finding it too expensive to replace them, zookeepers did the next best thing: They dyed their donkeys.
This kind of cutting-edge thinking may prove to be the salvation of cash-strapped zoo administrators everywhere. Can't afford peacocks? Staple crepe paper to some chickens. The strategic application of papier-mache can turn large dogs into rhinoceri, elephants, and any number of horned or antlered creatures. Duct-tape and spray-paint can transform cats into sea lions. The possibilities are endless.
Speaking of horses--or at least donkeys--of a different color, we watched parts of "The Wizard of Oz" last night. We were struck by Dorothy's despair upon her apparent abandonment by the Wizard. Despite earnest invitations from the Scarecrow, et al., to remain in Oz, she emphatically restates her desire to go home.
We just wondered: Why?
Look, put your arms out. In one hand, "place" Oz: In the other, place Depression-era Kansas. Yellow brick vs. Dusty dirt. The Lollipop Guild vs. The WPA.
Is there really a contest? In Oz, you don't even have to worry about wicked witchery, both its practitioners having met their doom. You could live happily in the presumably benign-if-pyrophobic dictatorship of the newly-appointed Scarecrow. Why would you want to leave?
Just because there's no place like home doesn't mean you should really want to live there.
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