American Safari

In the Ngorongoro Crater, it was a lion. In the Tarangire, it was elephant. In Wyoming, it was a bear. The ever-elusive animal that everyone you meet and talk to seems to have a story about and you might just get lucky enough to see one. Luck, it's all about luck.

Having done the whole sit in a car for hours on end chasing animals around in Africa last summer, I kind of thought I was done with the whole safari experience for a long time to come. As cool as it is to see a lion lounging in the sun and zebra drinking from lakes and a cape buffalo being eaten by hyena and vultures, I nevertheless got my fill of bumpy roads and constant lookouts and fretting over camera settings.

However, with snow piled 8-10 feet in the backcountry in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, JF and I were left with little choice but to sit in the car and peel our eyes. You can only watch Old Faithful and walk around thermal basins so many times before you really wish you were out where no one is around with the snow to muffle any sound. White trees, got it, algae, there and there, pretty colors, over it.

Our quest for a bear turned out to be futile. Reports of a mother and 3-yr old cubs in the Grand Tetons never panned out for us. Rotting carcasses of bison in Yellowstone did little to attract Grizzlies when we went by and big cat tracks were the only sign of non-antelope life in the Bridger National Forest. We did see plenty of other animals, though. My first moose, though sans rack, unfortunately, as it is spring and they shed their antlers in the winter. We saw two wolves and two bald eagles, one of which JF managed to capture while defecating--which I kind of find to be hilarious and ironic. Blue heron, sandbill crane, hawks, crows, antelope, deer, bighorn sheep and bison of every shape and size filled my memory card. But no bear.

Oh, well. I'll just have to go back next time in September, when streams are crossable and the snow has melted and the crowds have gone and the bears are stuffing themselves to prepare for hibernation.

Nuevo Look

Ever since Blogger unveiled its fancy new templates and editing processes, I've been resisting. I've had this blog for almost five years now (five!?! where does time go!), though I certainly didn't post here regularly during all that time, and I was kind of attached to my editing process, adding links, etc. The conversion by a fellow blogger, the pressure of finals (and thus the need to procrastinate) and some time spent writing for a newer blog finally led me to cave.

So, here it is. A new, improved your erin fix. Most of the changes just kind of make posting and editing easier for me, but there are a few noteworthy additions. I hope you like it, if not, feel free to let me know.

Weddings, weddings, weddings

I've been to quite a few weddings in my lifetime. Most of them Catholic. In fact, all of them were Catholic with the notable exception of Brian and Isa's wedding on the beach in Mochima--presided over by Brian's brother--until the past year or so.

In the past six months, however, I've been to a Jewish wedding, a Protestant wedding and a Hindu wedding. Such fun! And such great opportunities to take pictures! I've put a few people shots from Liz and Sourav's wedding last week on facebook, and have put some of the artier ones on flickr.

Back to the way god made me

So, this girl is back to being brunette. I'd say like the day I was born, but I have pictorial evidence that I was blonder than even Gata that July 6 and for a few years after.

Thanks to the fact that I have no income for the coming summer and will spending a good part of it gallivanting, I figured I should probably forgo my every-other-month visits to Kim. Subsequently, the various blond, red and brown streaks that kept my hair so interesting are now missing. It should really come as no surprise as my hair tends not to stay one color for too long; it was about time. And it's not to say I won't be back. If I do manage to find gainful employment, you can be sure I'll make an appointment for some other random color.

Happy Saturday!

Happy Earth Day

Isn't it pretty? Happy Earth Day.

Today

Today always used to make me cry.

I could conjure up the images on TV and the fear that we all felt.

Today always used to make me sad.

I pictured myself sitting in a circle with my choir friends. This one crying for having lost a lacrosse coach, another one for having lost a friend. All of us crying for having lost a layer of innocence.

Today always used to make me angry.

I always managed to find someone who looked upon it callously, who failed to see why we all should be so disturbed by something like this.

The older I get, there are more and more days that should make me sad, or make me cry, or make me angry. There are deaths and births and massacres and battles and at what point do you stop trying to keep straight all the things you're mourning?

Today, I woke up and I was just a little tired. I read the news and now I'm sad. I'm not angry or crying. I might do a little of the latter as the day goes on, but not now. Now, I'm just going to take a few minutes to remember.

Gala Gala Gala

Last night was Ryan's big charity gala, put on by one of her high school swimmers. It was fun to get dressed up and take lots of pictures and see lots of Ryan's friends that I haven't seen in awhile. I tried hard to dissociate the last time I was at the El Jebel shrine from this one, but I kept getting flashbacks to senior prom. Funny, and a little weird.

It was also amazing to meet Amanda Boxtel, a mentor of Ryan's and a veteran/ongoing participant in stem cell therapy. Ryan, of course, gave a very moving speech and I spent the majority of the evening wishing I hadn't worn mascara, but all in all, it was fantastic. Good food, good fun and a very successful fund raiser. I'm sure Ryan will write more about it on her blog as well. I've put some pictures on facebook and Ryan will post more, too.

300!!!

Three hundred posts on this little blog; I'm so proud.

To celebrate, I think I'll fall off the chair lift. Oh, wait, I did that yesterday.