Vacationing in New York City–Part Two

June 24, 2019June 24, 2019 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

We tried to pick a non-rainy day to go to the Bronx Zoo. Yet, when we arrived, storm clouds swirled; it did not look good. Luckily, the threat never materialized. I had forgotten just how large it is. This June, the vegetation reminded me of a tropical jungle except the species of plants differ.

This zoo is huge and old with elegant, classical style buildings.

These photos were taken in the Madagascar building.

Water flows everywhere, making for a very natural feeling environment for many of the animals.

The okapi can really blend in with its forested environment. This is one of my grandson’s favorites.

The gorilla area is so large I was never able to discern its perimeters. This seemed good to me; they have lots of room.

If you do not want to spend much of your time walking from exhibit to exhibit, some of which are not close to each other or are very large in terms of acres, a shuttle circles the zoo regularly and you can get off and on at various stops.

Another option is to ride the Monorail which goes all around the huge Asia exhibit. The only downside is, due to the area in which the animals have to roam, you may not see many up close. Can you find the tiger?

This is an Asian rhino and we were told she especially likes hanging out in the water.

Red pandas are not related to pandas at all. Although they are a unique species, they are most closely related to raccoons and weasels.

Many people criticize zoos and would rather have animals roaming free. Sadly, some animals are already extinct in the wild. A number of animals at the zoo fit this category. In some cases the zoo has a breeding program and are working on reintroduction programs which will reintroduce extinct species back into their original wild habitats.

No matter how you plan to get to the zoo, you are going to have to walk some distance unless you hire a car or taxi. You can take the subway and walk about 1/2 mile or so, or you can take the bus but will have to walk to the correct bus stop to catch the express bus which stops near the zoo entrance. We took the bus which allowed us to get a sort of “tour” of Uptown, Harlem, and the Bronx. It was comfortable and not very crowded. I took the following photo at 124th street.

A small community garden.

Day Trip to Caprock Canyons

May 12, 2019 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

Caprock Canyons State Park, at the southern end of Palo Duro Canyon, requires about 1 1/2 hours to drive from my house. Yesterday, we met the Panhandle Native Plant Society there to investigate flowers and grasses.

When we first arrived, it seemed blue might break through the cloud cover, but it did not.

The park ranger took us to several different sites to identify different flower and grass species. The above is an area which in the early 90s was a cotton field and has been restored with native vegetation.

We drove to another area which remained “wild”–never cultivated.

Then we drove to a picnic area overlooking the lake. Close to there we found the poppy below.

After lunch, we parted with the rest of the group and drove to the end of the road. Martina had hoped to see bison–the state bison herd roams there. At this point we had seen none. As I drove along, a bison bull was strolling down the road. Martina took this photo from the side window. He was only a couple of meters from the car.

20190511_132914

We stopped and took a few more photos where the road ends. I have hiked from this point in the past, but not yesterday.

After leaving the park, we headed to Silverton, Texas, to visit a coffee shop there which was recently featured in a Texas magazine as the place to go.

I loved the murals and sculptures. The owner is a sculptor and also a raptor trainer. The shop features coffee, desserts, unique clothing, and art.

On the way back we stopped at the Palo Duro Canyon overlook/picnic area on highway 207.

If you are in the Amarillo or Canyon, Texas, area, I highly recommend this day trip.

Showers and Flowers

May 7, 2019 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

All these spring showers result in lots of flowers–wild flowers and iris.

Impacting the World

April 29, 2019April 29, 2019 / Juliana Lightle / 1 Comment

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Jane Goodall

Gelada in Simien Mountain National Park, Ethiopia

A Birthday Tale

March 30, 2019 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

Several weeks ago, the tail of my favorite horse, Miracle, disappeared. When she died from colic after giving birth several years ago, one young lady at the vets took hairs from her tail, made a braid, and gave it to me. Since then, it had hung in the hallway next to Dad’s spurs and a photo of the family farm above Dad’s parade saddle. Suddenly, it disappeared. Where could it have gone? No one had recently been to the house except Martina, my Italian exchange student, and me. My daughter and grandson had stopped by, but no one else. Nothing else had disappeared. It was a mystery like the time I found a handful of dry dog food under the saddle. I never solved that one and had given up on solving this one. I had even considered looking for something else to hang in its place.

On my birthday yesterday, the principal walked to my room with a bouquet of flowers and a package. The bouquet was from my grandson. I opened the package. Much to my astonishment, there was Miracle’s tail, the top of the braid carefully and colorfully wrapped, a thin copper wire winding through it, and and then wrapped around the bottom. My daughter had managed to take it without my seeing her do so, took it home, and had wrapped it so it would not come apart. When I originally told her about it, she and my grandson commented how strange it was and made note of the dog food incident as if some mystery lurked in that particular place in my house.

My grandson had picked out each individual flower. He obviously knows my favorite color is orange.

Then to top off the day my son also sent flowers. It dropped 50 degrees from yesterday afternoon to late last night, the wind shrieks, clouds loom dark and ominous. It is a good day for bright flowers.

Student Poem–One Last Pond Poem

February 18, 2019 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

Ponds and dogs seem to be the most popular of the assignment topics.

The Pond

The frogs croak

quietly in the night

waiting for food

to come by.

The water shimmers

in the moonlight

like a lighthouse

on the ocean.

When you think of

the pond,

think of the beautiful

creatures that live

in it.

Author: Ali Matthews

A Season of Gratitude

December 25, 2018 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

It started Thursday with the Winter Solstice and the full moon: the love, the presents, my astonishment. You cannot go wrong with moonlight hanging over a canyon. It never disappoints.

Then on Friday, astonishment. Teachers never expect what I received. I expect excellence and hope most learn something new, learn that books they will like exist, that they can do more than they ever dreamed. We do not expect presents.

By ten on Friday, my classroom was covered with gifts and food. Here is a list of some of the presents I received from my students:

frankincense and myrrh soap

a book about wine–yes, it seems they know me

a 4 by 4 black block that says Love, Smile, Enjoy, Laugh, Sing, Live

two gifts cards from a brother and sister for renting movies along with popcorn

a Picasso scarf

a thermal cup full of almonds–I received lots of almonds

all sorts of homemade candies, cookies, and other goodies

To top it all off, a mother walked into my room and handed me a bottle of red wine with this written on it: “Our child might be the reason you drink so enjoy this bottle on us, Merry Christmas.” I am still chuckling about this one.

My daughter and grandson are on a cruise and will get to see several ancient Mayan temples, my son is on his way here and will arrive around noon or early afternoon, I attended a beautiful Christmas Eve service last night, then came home and continued reading a fascinating book until late, and shortly I will make pumpkin bread using Mom’s old recipe.

The moon still shines, hanging in the Western horizon. I feel grateful.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

Juliana

Note: The Christmas tree my parents gave me decades ago with a skirt, simple fabric brought from Africa many years ago.

The Christmas Tree

December 3, 2018 / Juliana Lightle / 3 Comments

In childhood, no fake tree for us.

Just after Thanksgiving, the family search transpired.

Mom and Dad preferred Douglas fir, six feet tall.

Dutifully, we kept the tree holder filled with water,

never used real candles. We put on lights, big ones,

blue, green, red, an inch long, then carefully hung on delicate,

colorful, round balls. The most difficult task: the icicles,

long, silver, reflective. They had to go on just so.

Years later, children gone, Mom and Dad bought an

artificial tree, fake Douglas fir, incredibly real in appearance.

When they left Missouri for Arizona every winter after harvest,

they abandoned Christmas trees, gave me the fake Douglas fir.

I still have it. How long? Decades, several at least. State of the art

when they bought it, it requires work, assembly, strings of lights.

Every year, I tell myself it is time to get one of those new trees with lights

already installed, so much easier to take up and down. I never buy one.

I cannot bear to part with Mom and Dad’s tree. One year, annoyed with

putting on lights, I decorated it lightless. I missed the lights. Now every year,

decades later, I assemble it, take the time to string the lights. Some of the lower

branches no longer stay, but I work around that, hang the colorful, delicate

Christmas ornaments I love, collected over years and years, wrap the base in

the red and white cloth given to me from Africa. On cold evenings, like this one,

I turn off the other lights, drink tea like my mother did, and remember my

childhood.

Athena

November 19, 2018 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

Most of my posts are poems, things I have learned, travel adventures, or serious comments about the world. This one is more of a personal sharing post. Here are three photos of my dog, Athena. She is a standard poodle and quite fearless and territorial. She will even stand off coyotes. Sometimes this makes me sad because I do enjoy the wide variety of wildlife where I live. However, I like the idea that she is fearless and protective and warns me about anything unusual. Nothing escapes her notice.

When I took this, she had just demolished a bone and fragments appear on her left leg.

She and my grandson playing.

Inspecting her territory in her short summer haircut taken last summer.

I just finished the book “American Wolf”. Most people do not associate their dogs with big predators. Poodles were originally bred to hunt. When I watch her roam the wild around my house, hunter, predator comes to mind. I have watched her chase foxes, coyotes, skunks, you name it. She is clever enough to never get too close to the skunk. The coyote and she had a stand off. Eventually, Athena won. I have not seen a coyote since and that was months ago.