On Monday I went to the Como Conservatory and Zoo. It was time. My skin had taken enough torture and was dry and flaky, my eyes could only see shades of white and gray. So the extended period of time in the humidity of the conservatory was just what the doctor ordered. Being in the presence of all the green and growing things was just what my soul longed for.

Perhaps the sign stating the mission statement of the Como Zoo had been there a long time and I had  never noticed it before: To inspire our public to value the presence of living things in our lives. I had no paper with me so I pulled out the only thing I had to write on…my checkbook…and wrote the statement down.To inspire our public to value the presence of living things in our lives. Shouldn’t this be a mission statement so many organizations embrace? Schools? Government? Churches? What might our lives be like if this was the statement that guided our living each day? I particularly like "our public" for aren’t we all in this together? No ‘us and them’ statement but "our’. To inspire…all people…to value the presence of….all living things…in our lives.

But it got even better. The next sign, the good-bye sign just before reaching the parking lot read: We are open 365 days a year with exciting happenings every day. Now there’s a message! Three hundred and sixty-five days a years we can be blessed with ‘exciting happenings every day’, if we are awake to them.
I realize, of course, that it is a matter of perspective, of attitude, sometimes of circumstance. But I do know that I have people in my life who are going through terrible things and yet manage to see the world as beautiful and hopeful. If given the choice, I will choose to see it all as they do…not mundane or ho-hum but as full of exciting happenings.

If the gray winter days have gotten to you and you need a reminder of the beauty and wonder of this world we are blessed to inhabit, I offer this advice: Get up, get dressed, put on layers and head over to Como.Your skin will feel better, you will breath deeper and longer as you inhale the rich,thick humidity. Trees of starfruit, mangoes and orchids await. Seals are swimming, polar bears are playing, and a baby orangutan waits for a name. They’ll be watching for you…today, and everyday…..watching for the next ‘exciting happening’.

"And God said to Moses: Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." Exodus 3:5