silent thunder (and dear cats)

I have been radio-silent this past weekend because I spent it, instead of crouching in front of my computer, with my sister Mary-Eileen and niece Emily, experiencing and reexperiencing New York with them.

The highlights:

Day 1 (sunny and beautiful):

• cupcakes at Ciao for Now
• pigeon-chasing, hoola-hooping, and dog-watching at Washington Square People & Dog Park
• viewing the sunset-cast city from the 14th floor of D'Agostino Hall
• Ethiopian food, valiantly tried by all and liked by some
  

Day 2 (mostly overcast but not too cold and little rain):

• elevated subways
• Chinatown
• cannoli at Cafe Roma, followed by hot chocolate at Marie Belle, and a slice at the Pizzeria
• a walk thru midtown, featuring a brief stop at the base floor of the Empire State Building, Herald Square, and Times Square
• a thorough investigation of the wares, both edible and wearable, sold at the American Girl Place, including a delightful tea and a doll's hair salon
• races and more pigeon chasing at Bryant Park
• and a wait, one escalator and three elevators (one of which was driven by Emily herself) up to the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, just after sunset

Day 3 (cold and rainy):

• a short walk thru the Greenmarket at Union Square
• lunch with our cousin at the Blue Water Grill
• an amble thru the NYC Transit Museum, where we speculated about the age of the representative subways in comparison with Dad/Grandfeather
• and dinner with more cousins in Carroll Gardens, where the rain finally stopped and the sun came out.

Day 4 (sunny and a tad chilly) (half of this day was featured by half-hearted attempts to leave Manhattan for the other boros):

• a walk thru Downtown, featuring Wall Street, the NY Stock Exchange, the big bull statue, and an old church, celebrating Palm Sunday
• a Staten Island Ferry ride, past the Statue o' Fliberty and back, with hot dogs and then a pretzel
• a venture over 1/3 of the Brooklyn Bridge (to the first stanchions), and back, dodging people and bicycles and tall tales of falling earrings
• almost-lunch at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, tea and freshly squeezed apple juice at a falafel shop, followed by an early dinner at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, with a thwarted birthday song accompanied by cowbells and triangles
• a successful birthday song accompanied by Emack and Bolio's ice cream (one of which snapped in half! and was replaced)
• and then packing and personalized pedicure salon, reenacted back at 1018 Manhattan Avenue, complete with receipts, scented foot soak, and choice of polish.

It was a terrific and exhausting weekend for all us 3, I think. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.


I have just finished a book by the name of Silent Thunder. It is written by a woman who's spent quite some time studying African elephants. I recommend it to anybody who's interested in animals, scientifically or emotionally or both, Africa (or, really, anywhere) and its problems of balancing wildlife with not-so-wildlife, or just stories well told.

I have an assignment to write a short paper defending the ivory trade. This is a difficult task, as megafauna are sympathetic protagonists and poachers are not. But perhaps the way lies through finding ways to help poachers not be poachers. This is a bigger task than just outlawing ivory. Hopefully I can find something more to say than that.


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