Scribbles and Photos

Mama & Baby (Tanzania) On two occasions I've had the rare -- but oh so wonderful -- experience of being on safari with no other folks sharing the safari vehicle.  This may not sound like such a big deal so first let me explain the best and the worst of strangers in closed spaces. The best of stranger safari companions come from Australia.  I've experienced this ilk twice -- once at Chief's Camp in Botswana (more about those folks in a bit) and once at Serengeti under Canvas  in Tanzania last year.  Julia (my niece) and I had just landed at a bush airstrip where we shared cookies and cakes while waiting for our Aussie jeep mates.  Trevor, Louise, and Liz arrived and we were off to the camp in a burst of dust.  Given the prevalence of rather large guns at the airstrip (something about the government picking up taxes?!?!), I was quite glad to get going.  We chatted amiably as our driver took the leisurely route back to the camp.  Treating ...

It's been an odd fall here in the North East weather wise.  There was a freak snowstorm the last weekend of October and the weather has been unseasonably warm these last couple of weeks.  We seem to have finally turned the corner into crisper weather -- the kind of weather that invites curling up in an overheated apartment (this is NYC after all) with a good book and a cup of tea. Despite the up and down weather, the colors in the park have been nothing short of spectacular, drawing out the leaf peeping paparazzi in droves.   Cameras and cell phones of all sizes have been clicking away as we each sought to capture that perfect fall picture. I don't know if these are perfect fall pictures but they remind me of some lovely 2011 walks in my back yard. BELOW 72nd STREET ON A SUNNY DAY BOAT POND REFLECTIONS NORTHERN REACHES