Scribbles and Photos

Buddha Magnolia (Conservatory Garden) It's spring, the crocuses and daffodils are popping and the weather is warming up.  A good time for a walk to the Conservatory Garden in Central Park to check on the tulips and see how the magnolias are doing.  Hoping against hope that it wont's be like last spring when they bloomed a tad early and the flowers were a bit bruised by the cold. Let's stroll the French Garden first. Tulips peeking up in their beds,  check. Vines being set on arbors,  check . Three Dancing Maidens polished and ready for the fountain to be turned on,  check. Now to check out the magnolias. Star Magnolia from Years Past (Conservatory Garden) Before heading for the English Garden -- where the magnolias are more profuse and richer in color -- a visit to my star magnolia tree.  The blooms are so delicate with the petals stirring at the ...

Waves off Chesterman Beach (Tofino, Canada) The Northern Lights were out a few nights ago – just about a week after I fled the Yukon Territory for Vancouver Island.  They looked glorious in the photos that Carson posted to the Inn on the Lake's Facebook page and I could almost hear them crackling through the sounds of the surf crashing outside my window at the W ickaninnish Inn (the Wick)  on Vancouver Island.   Nature is like that – elusive and unpredictable – it certainly doesn’t dance to the tune of a regularly scheduled vacation.  Tofino Waves (Canada) The Wick was the last “big” stop on a 17-day journey through Canada.  For me, it was the perfect complement to the time up on Marsh Lake and in Victoria.  I’ve chronicled my fascination with waves   and beach living elsewhere in this blog and I’d come to the Wick (with the intrepid Nancy B – aka the B) for three nights of what I had hoped to be some glorious storm watching ...

Victoria Harbor at Dusk (Canada) Victoria -  somehow I missed it on my last two trips to the Pacific northwest.  It's never been that high on my list but there I was hunkered down in the Fairmont Empress with Nancy B for a wee taste of city life before heading on out to Tofino for some wave watching.  It's a small, easily walkable city by the sea. We've flown from Whitehorse to here -- the last 15 minutes on a small prop plane that seemed to be making  descent before it was fully aloft.  Here are 13 things to do in Victoria if you've got a day or two: Check into the Fairmont Empress -- a grand old dame of a hotel albeit a bit shabby around the edges (nothing I can point my finger at -- just a general feeling of elegance gone by). Supper at the Bengal Cafe at the Empress -- Have a Bengal Tiger and some shrimp curry.  They do it colonial style -- near as we can figure out that means less spicy and somewhat creamy.    Breakfast ...

Snow Shake (Yukon Territory, Canada) I am on the plane from Whitehorse to Vancouver where we will catch our connecting flight to Victoria and the next leg of our adventure.  It’s hard to believe that I’m not further along in my blogging given how much free time I had at the Inn on the Lake .  There is a languor that comes from days that flow seamlessly from one into the other.  Days where the only appointments are those you make with yourself to renew and reconnect with the world around you.    Marsh Lake (Yukon Territory, Canada) For some reason, Nancy B (the B) and I are not seated together (we are not sure how that happened) and so my seatmate is a young woman who moved to the Yukon Territory from Edmonton.  She had come with her boss on a work gig these past two summers and just liked it there and so she has moved.  She’s giving it a whirl for three months and then if all goes well, she’ll bring her son up and make a life for hers...

Ice Road..... (Yukon Territory, Canada) It is a journey getting from New York City to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory.  Not as long of a trip as those who come here from Japan – often for just 3 nights – on a quest to see the Aurora Borealis.   That’s a full day of travel on each end and most come only for the lights and nothing else. My journey has been more leisurely – 9 hours of flight time broken up by an overnight in Vancouver and another at the Gold Rush Inn in Whitehorse before the hour drive up to the Inn on the Lake at Marsh Lake where we’ve camped out in a two-bedroom apartment for the past 4 nights.  Today (2/8) was to be our last day but Nancy B (aka the B) and I have extended for an additional night so that we can enjoy the food and the great room and have one more chance to see the lights before heading off to the next leg of our journey. Hanging On (around Marsh Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada) There seem to be two ways to see the ...

Making Tracks (Lake Marsh, Yukon Territory, Canada) It's February 6, 2012 and I am sitting in the great room of the Inn on the Lake (Yukon Territory, Canada) looking out at the snow falling gently down with the potential for seeing really active northern lights fading with each passing moment.  Nancy B (aka the B) is contentedly smash booking at the dining room table and the other inhabitants of the lodge are in their rooms.  The ladies from Guatemala have gone off for a dog sled adventure – inspired by my noting that they will let you ride in the sled if that is what you request. We did see the Aurora Borealis spread quietly across the night sky on the first night we were here.  Up at 4:00 am, we pulled on our heavy winter clothes and dashed out the front door.  There is something splendid about a swath of green in the night sky as the almost full moon glows brightly behind and the stars twinkle overhead.  It reminded me of the full moon walk along...

Reflections (Central Park) I am writing this on my new MacAir – the final acquisition in what is a hardware trifecta for Apple.    It started with the iPad, a slim little bit of nothing that is far and away the best piece of technology that I’ve bought in years.   In a nutshell, it takes care of all my reading (except for on the beach) and on the fly networking needs and I can edit photos on it – a great boon for this photography buff.   I could also retire my iPod (so last decade) if only I would go through the steps necessary to load it with my music library.    There are plenty of little game applications for when I just want to while away some time.   Some day, I will be a three star player on all levels of Angry Birds but in the meantime I’ve mastered all levels of Plants vs. Zombies and am about even on beating the machine in Scrabble.     And, it’s small enough to fit into a purse for those one-day trips for business a...