what about the plastic animals?

More Zoo Creatures

Yes, meerkats actually do that standing up thing.  So do prairie dogs.  Nieces not so much.

I'm trying to think of how many zoos I've been to.  Not many.  As an adult I've gone to the San Diego Zoo once, the Cleveland Zoo once, but that was only to see the newly opened rainforest, and the Central Park Zoo a few times with visitors.  There was the Catskill Game Farm when I was a kid.  I also remember going to the very awful zoo in Watertown, New York.  The only clear memory I have of that is of people throwing gum and marshmallows to the bears, who would then chew and chew and chew.  I think that's it.  I'm not much of a zoo person.

At The North Portico

Somebody wrote their congressman and got us a tour of the White House.  While security is pretty tight, it is not as annoying as going through an airport.  You can't bring a bag, or electronics, or a camera, and your cell phone has to be turned off.  Thus no photos of the inside.

The tour is self-guided but somewhat limited in that you see the first floor of the East Wing and Residence.  Friendly Secret Service agents are in each room to answer any questions.  We got to see the Green Room, the Red Room, the East Room, where the President typically holds press conferences (it was much smaller than I expected) and where musical performances are held, and the State Dining Room (which was also much smaller, and a bit dowdier, than I expected).  The best part of the tour is in the Family Dining Room where you get a special White House pin if you beat the president in two out of three arm wrestling matches.

George Washington Is Still Sleeping Here

]George and Martha are eternally resting in a very modest tomb at Mt. Vernon.

Other final presidential locations that have appeared here:

Abraham Lincoln

Ulysses S. Grant

Warren G. Harding

George Washington Slept Here

Last month I had the pleasure of visiting Washington DC with some Bay Staters. One afternoon was spent at George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. We got a tour through the house (no photos allowed) and wandered around the grounds where we saw the lower garden, the wharf on the Potomac, a horse barn, a slave cabin and Washington's tomb.  We also toured the museum where George's dentures are displayed (no photos allowed).

Yes, that is a cherry tree in the middle photo.  The garden had a variety of fruit trees shaped to grow low to the ground. The giant tulip poplar was planted by Washington himself in 1785.

Did you know that after the revolution George operated one of the largest distilleries in the new country?

A Tale of Three Pies

The two pies at top were my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner.  On the left is an apple-cranberry pie and that's pumpkin on the right.  I put way too many apples in the apple-cranberry pie.  The crust was done but the innards were still plenty crunchy.  The pumpkin pie, I will humbly submit, turned out perfectly.

The pie at bottom was not dessert but dinner on the drive home last night.  Don't worry, I did not eat while driving!  I stopped at Modern Apizza, one of the great pizza places in New Haven, for a sausage pie.  It did not disappoint.

Teenager Time

One of my favorite people is starting her first trip around the sun as a teenager today.  Happy Birthday, Emma!

As for me I'm off to the Alamo.  I'll be back next weekend.

Nine Years Later

My niece Zoe is having her tenth birthday today.  Here are a couple of photos from her first birthday.  The frog cake was delicious.  It was really hot that day.

Happy Birthday Zoe!!!

The Crown Climbers

Here we are, resting inside the Statue of Liberty's crown, looking okay for having just climbed 344 steps.  Before we ascended the park ranger told us that people normally take about 15 minutes and that the fastest person took six minutes.  That turned out to be a mystery as it took us six minutes to get to the crown.

Return to Liberty

Some people showed up on my doorstep on Friday night demanding that we go to the crown of the Statue of Liberty on Saturday.  The same people were here back in February.  Good, healthy, exercise climbing to the crown.

Asparagus Shopping

My dad gets his asparagus at this farm stand, which is on a back road between Phoenix, NY and Mexico, NY.  Unfortunately, he prefers the bunches with the largest stalks, which his wife proceeds to boil until they are dead, dead, and more dead.  I wonder why asparagus is cooked like that when it is so much tastier when lightly boiled, sautéed or grilled.

At least he is getting fresh asparagus.  When I was a kid I think my mother bought canned asparagus, which she also cooked until they were well dead.  It made me gag and I successfully avoided asparagus for many years.

Lo, those many years later I had a job interview at Western Washington University in Bellingham.  For dinner the faculty took me out to a seafood place right on the water.  Much to my horror the grilled salmon I had ordered came with a large mound of steamed asparagus.  I knew I had to make a visible dent in the asparagus so I steeled myself and hoped for the best.  It was better than the best.  I actually liked it!

Despite my new found love of asparagus I didn't get the job.  It was a one-year temporary position and they really, really wanted someone to teach a soils class.  I didn't know anything about soils and was clearly unqualified to teach about them.  It would have been fun to live out there for a year.

I was tempted to visit Bellingham when I was out that way this spring.  I was curious to see if I would remember any of it from the whirlwind visit in 1990.  Alas, I did not budget enough time.