Oberon's Second Thread of 2021

Welcome to my second thread for 2021. The picture up top deserves an explanation. Last week me and the family returned to Breckenridge, Colorado. A year ago we made Breckenridge our pandemic vacation stop and it turned out disastrously for me as I ruptured two discs in my lower back and had to have emergency surgery to to relieve pressure on my nerve. This year we flew to Denver (rather than drove which resulted in the disc rupture). Like last year, I again made time for fly fishing and this gorgeous brown trout was my reward.

2020 Book Year in Review

I ended the year at 103 books. I credit the increased rate with increased time from the pandemic and a number of audiobooks.

My top books for 2020 were:

1. Imperial Twilight by Stephen Platt
2. Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
3. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
4. Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald
5. The Bells of Old Tokyo by Anna Sherman

2021 top books so far:

1. Return of King by William Dalrymple
2. Home Waters: A Chronicle of Family and a River by John Maclean
3. Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert
4. Travel Light, Move Fast by Alexandra Fuller
5. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston
6. Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan Slaght

Books read in 20201:

January

1. HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brian
2. Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan Slaght (audiobook)
3. The House of Wisdom by Jim Al-Kalili (audiobook)
4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
5. A World Beneath the Sands by Toby Wilkinson (audiobook)
6. The North American Indian by Edward Curtis

February

7. Hellboy and the BPRD: The Beast of Vargu and Others by Mike Mignola
8. Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen by Rodolphe Goetzinger
9. A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Timothy Egan (audiobook)
10. Swamp Thing Omnibus by Nancy Collins
11. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
12. Eat the Buddha by Barbara Demick (audiobook)
13. Notre-Dame by Ken Follett (audiobook)
14. Oak Flat by Lauren Redniss (audiobook)
15. Ottoman Odyssey by Alev Scott

March

16. Relentless by R.A. Salvatore
17. Essex County by Jeff Lemire
18. The Quiet World by Douglas Brinkley (audiobook)
19. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
20. Howl, A Graphic Novel by Allen Ginsberg
21. Cruz Bay From Conquest to Exploitation A Forgotten History by David Knight St.
22. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston

April

23. The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian
24. Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
25. Desolation Island by Patrick O’Brian
26. The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brian
27. Rightful Heritage by Douglas Brinkley (audiobook)
28. The Surgeon's Mate by Patrick O'Brian
29. Travel Light, Move Fast by Alexandra Fuller (audiobook)
30. Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt (audiobook)

May

31. The Ionian Mission by Patrick O'Brian
32. Wright Sites by Joel Hoglund
33. Ghostways by Robert Macfarlane
34. Leadership by Dois Kearns Goodwin (audiobook)
35. Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert (audiobook)
36. Strange Harvests by Edward Posnett (audiobook)
37. Beloved Beasts by Michelle Nijhuis (audiobook)

June

38. Return of a King by William Dalrymple
39. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (audiobook)
40. Plunder by Menachem Kaiser (audiobook)
41. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

July

42. The Trigger by Tim Butcher
43. Burning the Books by Richard Ovenden
44. Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz (audiobook)
45. Cahokia Mounds by William Iseminger
46. Heathen: Volume One by Natasha Alterici
47. The Problem of Susan by Neil Gaiman
48. Home Waters by John Maclean (audiobook)

August

49. Treason's Harbour by Patrick O'Brian
50. The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen by Linda Colley (audiobook)
51. The Overstory by Richard Powers

September

52. The Far Side of the World by Patrick O'Brian
53. The Reverse of the Medal by Patrick O'Brian
54. The Letter of Marque by Patrick O'Brian
55. Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez (audiobook)
56. Age of Conan, Valeria by Meredith Finch
57. Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda, Eye of the Storm by Jim Zub
58. Captain America, Theater of War by Paul Jenkins
59. Conan the Barbarian by Jason Aaron
60. Eternals by Neil Gaiman
61. Ronin Island, Vol. 1 by Greg Pak
62. Ronin Island, Vol. 2 by Greg Pak
63. Ronin Island, Vol. 3 by Greg Pak
64. Sir Edward Grey, Witchfinder Omnibus by Mike Mignola
65. The Avengers, War of the Vampires by Jason Aaron
66. The Odyssey of the Amazons by Kevin Grevioux
67. Skaar, King of the Savage Land by Rob Williams
68. The Thirteen Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian

October

69. Batman, The Dark Knight, Master Race by Frank Miller
70. How to Survive in the North by Luke Healy
71. Captain America, Marvel Knights 2 by Dave Gibbons
72. Crimson Lotus by John Arcudi
73. Miracleman, The Golden Age by Neil Gaiman
74. Oil & Water by Steve Duin
75. The Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian

November

76. 1177 B.C. by Eric Cline (audiobook)
77. Once Upon a Time in France by Fabien Nury
78. After the Fall by Ben Rhodes (audiobook)
79. The Singing Wilderness by Sigurd Olson
80. Black Knight, The Fall of Dane Whitman by Frank Tieri
81. Captain America, The Tomorrow Soldier by Rick Remender
82. Carnet De Voyage by Craig Thompson
83. Classic G.I. Joe, Volume 2 by Larry Hama
84. Doctor Strange, Mr. Misery by Jason Aaron
85. Doomsday Clock by Geoff Johns
86. The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch by Neil Gaiman
87. God Country by Donny Cates
88. The King in Yellow by Ian Culbard
89. Lucifer, the Divine Tragedy by Dan Watters
90. Neil Gaiman's Murder Mystery by Craig Russell
91. Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman
92. The Unwritten, Book 1 by Mike Carey
93. The Unwritten, Tommy Taylor and the Ship that Sank Twice by Mike Carey

December

94. Lucifer, The Infernal Comedy by Dan Watters
95. Lucifer, The Wild Hunt by Dan Watters
96. Lucifer, the Devil at Heart by Dan Watters
97. The Unwritten, Inside Man by Mike Carey
98. The Truelove by Patrick O'Brian
99. The Unwritten, Dead Man's Knock by Mike Carey
100. Himalaya, A Human History by Ed Douglas (audiobook)
101. The Commodore by Patrick O'Brian
102. Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes by Barnaby Phillips (audiobook)
103. Babylon Berlin by Arne Jysch
104. Nature's Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy
105. Groo: Friends and Foes by Sergio Aragones
106. B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth 2 by Mike Mignola

Unlike last year's experience, my return to Colorado involved a lot of activity.

As noted above, we flew into Denver and rented a car rather than road tripping. On day 1 we went through Rocky Mountain National Park. Sadly, many of the major vistas were obscured by smoke from the west's many wildfires. However, we did see a fair amount of elk and this mother moose and calf.



We started off our time in Breckenridge with an aggressive hike. Unfortunately, this left me with some decent blister having not worn my hiking boots in awhile.



We followed up hiking with a day of river rafting, followed by biking down from Vail Pass into Frisco, horseback riding in the Garden of the Gods, and the aforementioned fly fishing - this time in the South fork of the South Platte River.

Following our trip to Colorado Springs we stopped at the Florissant Fossil Beds, a national monument, which features petrified stumps of redwood trees.





After that excursion we stopped at a nearby local quarry where you could search for fossils among shale deposits. The boys and I searched for about an hour and came away with a sizeable haul of fossils, mainly leaf impressions. A wonderful day for the paleontologists in the family.

Having packed a full week of activities in we returned to Minnesota over the weekend in time to catch the Loons game. Sadly, they lost to LA Galaxy 1-0 thanks mainly to excellent goal tending by LA.

I am now back for about two weeks, when (if things go according to plan) I will depart for Kenya for two weeks with my parents and sister. In the meantime, I have advanced to The Far Side of the World in my reread of the Aubrey/Maturin series and am currently working on the excellent Overstory for my other book.

Great photos, Erik! I hope that your travel plans for Kenya come to fruition. Barring a last minute monkey wrench I'll leave for a two week trip to Lisbon four weeks from today, which will be my first trip outside of the United States in 24 months.

Happy new thread, Erik.

Looks like you made up for last year, you put a lot of activity in a few days. I hope the blisters are healed by now.

Glad you had a better experience this year Erik. Great photos, thanks for sharing.

Happy New Thread, Erik. I love the Colorado photos and that brown trout topper is wonderful. I hope you are having a great summer. Glad to see both Under a White Sky & Owls of the Eastern Ice on your Best Of list. I am also fan of both.

Happy new thread, Erik!

Your photos are excellent as always and I would have liked a sample of that trout!

Your Loons are doing the same as my beloved Leeds - we got hammered on opening day to, of all teams, Man Utd.

Happy new one! That's a nice fish! Did you cook it?

>6 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl. I really hope that your trip to Lisbon goes off ok. I think Europe is a lot less daunting right now than other overseas locals but nothing is for sure with COVID. There are certainly lots of extra barriers to hop over to get in to and out of places.

>7 FAMeulstee: Thank you - sadly the blisters are only mostly healed. I am targeting the weekend as the date to get back to hiking. Definitely remembering to break in the hiking boots a bit more before doing anything aggressive.

>8 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks Caroline. Infinitely better not being in a hospital room.

>9 msf59: Hi Mark. I am hoping to get to Diary of Young Naturalist that you read last month.

>10 PaulCranswick: I missed the Leeds game Paul but at least there is a lot of time left in the season. What is your prediction for how they will end up? It didn't look like they were at serious risk of relegation or anything.

>11 drneutron: The guide service we went through was strictly catch and release for the trout. I was ok with that. While I like eating fish, most of my fishing is catch and release these days.

Happy new thread, Erik. Good luck with the Kenya trip.

>12 Oberon: Thanks, Erik. I've now all but completely decided to postpone my trip to Lisbon until October/November, for several reasons. First, a case-control study in last week's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine found that Britons who received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had only 88% protection against symptomatic COVID-19. That's not bad, but knowing that 12% of recipients became ill is certainly concerning. Second, I called a colleague and friend of mine, a dental surgeon who was on call for consultations for inpatients at the hospital I work in on Friday, to see what time he was going to see one of my patients who needed to go to the OR that day, and he told me that he was hope sick with COVID-19, even though he had been fully vaccinated in mid-January, along with the rest of the medical staff. Third, the Biden administration announced earlier this week that it will recommend a booster jab for fully vaccinated Americans, which is to be given eight months after they completed the series of immunizations (two jabs for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines, and one jab for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine). I would be eligible for that booster dose on or after September 13, the day before I leave for Amsterdam (there are no direct flights from Atlanta to Lisbon on Delta at the present time). It would be great to have that extra protection before I left, especially after reading an article in today's issue of The New York Times about fully vaccinated Americans who contracted COVID-19 while on holiday in Europe and had to quarantine in place before they could return to the US. Postponing my trip would also allow me to get a flu jab before I leave.

>13 BLBera: Thanks Beth and thanks for stopping by.

>14 kidzdoc: This pretty well outlines all of my anxieties about going to Kenya. I am not eligible for a booster until December. However, the biggest issue is that the trip is not really mine - it is my parent's one-year postponed 50th anniversary trip that they wanted me and my sister to join. All of us are, of course, fully vaccinated and are back to routinely wearing masks and only eating outside, etc. However, mom and dad are definitely feeling their years and view the trip as one of their last. Hence the importance of the kids coming.

I scheduled my requisite PCR test about 10 days out so I can comply with the various entry requirements but I am in dread that I could end up with an asymptomatic case and have to call my mother and tell her I can't go. So, as of now, I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen by Linda Colley

This book is very detailed look at how constitutions became a major force of political legitimacy and looks very carefully at the conditions that led to the widespread use of constitutions. The best known constitution is, of course, the United States Constitution of 1787. However, rather than starting with the U.S. Constitution, Colley looks to a number of lesser known constitutions, starting with one drafted for the island of Corsica to discuss how the phenomena gained power. In this telling, the U.S. Constitution stands more as a culmination of Enlightenment political thought rather than a rare, singular document.

In addition to placing the U.S. Constitution in relation to other, similar constitutional works, Colley also makes a compelling argument that much of the political forces that led to constitutions were driven by the economic necessities of paying for hybrid warfare (i.e. naval and land warfare on a scale heretofore unknown). The short version is that the maintenance of standing armies, and especially standing navies, was so significant that the funds required for these militaries could only be obtained from the citizenry via a grant of rights to the citizens secured by the promise of a constitution. It sounds a bit simplistic here but Colley does an excellent job of marshalling evidence to support her theory.

The book does not end with the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Rather, it goes on to trace subsequent constitutions, some modeled on the American version and some not. The book also delves into the American Civil War, the Confederate constitution and how that war was perceived by the rest of the world as a test of the limits and powers of the constitutional system.

As America is once again struggling to make its democracy work in the face of new challenges, Colley's book presents an interesting reminder of how the experiment started. Highly recommended.

Just a note to say I am back. Still working on organizing and refining stuff but I will be posting about my trip for awhile so feel free to avoid if you do not want to be inundated with pictures. For those who are interested - stay tuned!

Wow! Great photo. I'm glad you made it home in one piece.

>17 Oberon: Glad you are back safe, Erik.
Can't wait to see all pictures!

>17 Oberon: plumping my cushion...

I'm also eagerly awaiting photos, Erik. I presume that your encounter with that lion was an uneventful one.

Travel narrative and recap: my parents, sister and I went to Kenya in what was supposed to be the celebration of mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary. Due to COVID, it coincided with their 51st anniversary.

A couple of broad observations - traveling in COVID times is especially stressful due simply to the paperwork requirements. We flew from Minneapolis to Chicago to Frankfurt to Nairobi. Every step in the chain had different requirements and different paperwork. We had to show proof of vaccination and a negative PCR test (within 36 hours I think) to get in to Germany. We of course needed to be masked the whole time while in transit and for the flight to Germany and while in Germany had to have KN95 or equivalent masks - no cloth masks. To get into Kenya we needed a negative PCR (within 48 hours), a QR code from the Kenya health ministry (which all it did was confirm that we had a negative PCR test), and a visa. Checking all of these documents usually took 3 to 4 stops. The worst was getting out of Kenya. Documents were checked while in line to get our tickets, were checked when we got our tickets, were checked at security, were checked at the customs declaration, were checked at the gate before we could sit down, and then checked when boarding the plane. It got pretty absurd and time consuming.

Sadly, the other observation is one that I know on an intellectual level but was harder to deal with first hand. Mom and dad are aging. The level of juggling of forms and requirements was too much for them. Both have hearing aids but they don't work well in crowds and they simply don't move very fast. Dad has lost a lot of feeling in his hands so his coordination is off and mom's knee replacements were not up to the task. She eventually twisted one knee on the return trip and we had to navigate Frankfurt, Chicago and Minneapolis with a wheelchair. Now that we are home and they have rested as much as they want, aren't in crowded spaces, and can move slower they are recovering but I think the days of international travel like this are probably done.

That said, I am very glad we got to spend this time together even though it is likely the last such trip.

Once in Kenya we stayed in a hotel overnight having arrived about 8pm local time. We enjoyed Tusker beer and celebrated the successful travel (flight times from Chicago to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Nairobi were both about eight hours).

In the morning we were picked up and driven to the Selenkay Conservancy. The conservancy model is an interesting idea that basically involves rewilding private land to use for game and then paying the land owners out of the revenue collected from safari stays. This one was on Maasai land north of Amboseli National Park. The Maasai tribal members (Maasai are one of 42 tribes in Kenya and are renowned hunters) staffed the camp. We stayed in two tents - my parents in one and my sister and I in separate beds in the other. Only two other tents were occupied so it was under a 1/4 full.

Amboseli is know for big elephants and the elephants move back and forth from between the conservancy and the national park.



The area was very dry and so the elephants would come a watering hole (helpfully maintained by humans and a diesel generator). As a result, we got very, very close to the elephants.







In addition to elephants there were lots of other antelope and hoofed animals in the area, most attracted to the water.

With lots of potential food there were of course predators around. As you can see, this female was collared. It also happened to be lion mating season while we were there. The lions were pretty vigorous but it resulted in the mating couple avoiding hunting during that time.

The second day we went in to Amboseli itself. Amboseli is covered with marshes and is dominated by Kilimanjaro. Sadly, Kilimanjaro remained cloud covered pretty much the whole time denying me an iconic photo of elephants grazing in the foreground with the volcano rising behind.

Amboseli was fantastic for birding.

In addition to birds, we saw hippo, hyena, warthogs, and zebras in abundance.

From Selenkay we transferred to Laikipia via some bone jarring drives and a small bush plane service that was an adventure in and of itself. In Laikipia, we had the place entirely to ourselves with no other guests. Again, we slept in separate large tents. This was, again, a conservancy. The goal at Laikipia was to see rarer animals and it paid off in spades.

There were certainly the elephants, giraffes, lions, etc as at Selenkay but we went to Laikipia to see some of the less common animals .



That included the Grevy's Zebra, the rarest of the zebra family. Note the more horizontal striping. They look like bar codes to me.



The other thing Laikipia is famous for is leopards. We were told there were roughly 40 leopards living in the conservancy. There was a huge amount of dik-dik - tiny antelope and a favorite leopard food that supported the leopards. Even bigger, Laikipia is home to a few (2-3) all black leopards. A photo went viral of such a leopard a couple of years ago (piggybacking on the fame of the Black Panther movie). We saw no all black ones but did see two leopards including this female when she made a kill. Leopards being nocturnal you need to go out at night and try to find them with a spotlight. Their eyes (like the eyes of all predators) reflect light differently than herbivores.

That is it for today. I have an appeal to prepare for and a soccer game to attend but I will continue the narrative with wild dogs as time allows.

Great photos and description of your trip, Erik! I look forward to your next installation.

Thanks for sharing the photos, Erik. They are fabulous.

>25 Oberon: Lovely pictures! Back in the 1990s we had a safari in Zimbabwe which I have always wanted to repeat. We saw elephants, lions, rhino, hippo, water buffalo, warthog and lots of different sorts of antelope but no cheetahs or leopard. And lots of lovely, lovely birds of course. I’d love to do something similar again.

Wow, Erik, thanks for sharing these pictures!

>26 Oberon: Is that last picture a secretarybird?

>33 FAMeulstee: Yes, it is a secretary bird out looking for snakes.

Wow, those are some great pics! I get the comment about aging parents - mine are too. I'd love to take my parents to Florence, as mom has wanted to go, but I don't they could make the trip anymore.

Thanks for sharing the photos and travelogue, Erik!

We are thinking of taking my MIL to Ireland soonish - before it would be too difficult for her. You've inspired me to start pushing a bit harder about it.

Great photos!

Wild dogs!





One of the rarer species we saw. Wild dogs are highly threatened. The Wikipedia entry for African Wild Dogs references Laikipia and states that the packs are gone with the exception of a few lone individuals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_wild_dog I am pleased to report that this is incorrect. The packs were decimated due to an outbreak of canine distemper but they do still exist and we saw them.

As you can see, a number of the dogs are collared and we are told that wild dogs in the area have been studied for more than 20 years. Even with radio collars helping the tracking, they are hard to find - we encountered the pack on only one of three days despite using radio tracking each day we were out.

We first encountered the pack nosing around, playing and engaging in social behavior. However, very quickly after we arrived the pack went hunting. They did so very quickly and, as you can see, successfully. The pack took down two juvenile impalas within seconds of each other. They then proceeded to tear them apart. It was a bit disturbing and very dog like as the pack fought over bits of the kills. Seeing the wild dogs was definitely one of the top experiences for us.

What an incredible trip Erik, maybe even worth the damn paperwork.

So envious of being so near the elephants, but you made glorious photo captures all round.

Really sorry to hear about your parents, but what a finale for them. I'm not especially fit, so am unlikely to do a safari now. I'll just have to live off of childhood memories of 'Daktari', do you remember that, before your time of course.

One of the other really cool experiences that I got to do in Laikipia was a walking safari. By way of background, animals are habituated to the safari vehicles associated them with neither food or threat. That allows people on safari to get close to animals that you would not want to encounter alone. Given this reality, there are strict rules about staying in the vehicles and this extends to the camps where you are not allowed to leave the tent at night without a guide due to the risk on an encounter with a wild animal.

That said, some places do let you do walking safari tours with some tighter restrictions - guides, during the day and so on. Being the only people in camp at Laikipia I asked about doing one and they agreed. Given the rugged terrain it was just me. While I brought my phone I didn't take many photos as we were usually moving too fast to linger.

The safari consisted of me, the owner carrying a .375 caliber rifle, and a Samburu tribesman who guided for the camp. Very quickly after getting out of the Land Rover near the river we were able to locate a leopard kill by finding a drag mark from where the leopard had tried to haul its kill to a tree. However, nearby hyena and lion tracks indicated that the leopard had abandoned the kill due to the larger predators. It was astonishing how much could be deciphered from the tracks.

We followed the river, crossing past a couple of hippo pools (who were not excited to see us) until we got to some cliffs. While crossing the underside of the cliffs the Samburu guide noted a smell indicating a kill. At first we thought it might be a leopard kill. After climbing the cliffs we startled a large raptor, I believe an African Hawk Eagle. It flew off and dropped its kill, a guinea fowl.

From there we headed back along the top of the cliffs toward camp at which point we flushed a leopard and her cub. I caught the briefest glimpse of the leopards as they flushed in front of us. We followed but never got another glimpse although we did encounter a tree where a leopard had left the remains of a previous kill. It was a great experience. It also demonstrated just how elusive leopards can be.



Guinea fowl (although the photo was taken later)



A leopard kill hanging in a tree (again photo taken of a later, different leopard kill than the one on my walking safari)

From Laikipia we moved to our final stop - the Naboisho Conservancy which border the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Maasai Mara and the conservancy are part of a broader plains ecosystem including the Serengeti. Our visit coincided with the wildebeest migration.

This was, by far, the most luxurious stay. It was technically a tented camp but when your tent has a kitchen, chef and waitstaff and is just down from the horizon pool, calling it a tent seems a bit ludicrous. As dad said, "I didn't ask how much it cost and I don't want to know." We stayed here https://www.hemingways-collection.com/mara/stay/simba-tent/

This is a view from the valley below near a pride of lions, looking up at our tent.

>41 Oberon: Somewhat up from 'glamping' me thinks :-) Nice.

Sweet Thursday, Erik. Your Africa trip sounds and looks absolutely stunning. I am sure it was stressful and incredibly expensive but with views like this of the wildlife, it looks more than worth it. Of course, I love the big game and predators but I have a special fondness for the birds, as you know. These are gorgeous.

Naboisho Conservancy is on Maasai land and villages surround the conservancy. We went to visit one of the villages. It is an opportunity to meet the Maasai and also to do some shopping as the Maasai supplement their primary income from herding with selling things to visitors.



The Maasai women greeted us with a song on arrival.



This was a typical house that we visited. It was very dark with no electricity and no plumbing and little more than a hearth area and places to sleep. Cooking was done with a charcoal oven built on the floor. We were told that it was the woman's role to build the home and that it typically lasted 4 to 5 years before needing to be rebuilt. The Maasai practice polygamy.

The village is served by a school which was a couple of kilometers away. And we repeatedly heard that it was the goal of the youth to get an education in order to provide for better job opportunities.

While I enjoyed the visit it was impossible not to note the contrast between the extreme poverty of the village and the opulence of our accommodations. While the conservancy model is touted as a major improvement for both the people and the animals, it was hard for me to imagine that development will not serious stress the current status quo. People cannot live in such abject poverty, especially with daily reminders over the next hill of the wealth that they do not enjoy and any serious development will necessarily jeopardize the animals that are the reason for tourism. It is subject I have been thinking about a lot since I got back.

As noted above, the big thing for the Naboisho Conservancy is that it is part of the great migration. This meant tens of thousands of wildebeests. I tried some panaromic shots to show all the wildebeest but they ended up as indistinct blobs covering the plain. Not easily photographed. It also meant lots of predators. There were two big prides of lions in the conservancy each with about 20 lions. There were also a lot of baby animals that we saw.



Wildebeest sparring in advance of the rut.



Mother and baby Topi.



Baby jackal sitting just outside the den.



Cheetah cubs with their mother.

Lots of lions (and some hyenas).

Your photos are excellent and exciting, Erik. And I understand your *after* thoughts. It's such a catch-22, isn't it? And not just there, for sure.

Our final day ended up very hectic as our bush plane flight from Naboisho to Nairobi ended up 2 1/2 hours late. That, combined with literally unbelievable traffic to get to the airport, plus the bureaucracy of flying in COVID times described above left us with about half and hour to do some hasty shopping. The lack of shopping and the absence of a good view of Kilimanjaro were about the only disappointments with the trip. I am really glad I got to go and that I got to spend the time with my parents. As a footnote, I have talked to my parents several times since being back and it appears that rest and familiar surroundings has improved both of them. Mom says she is still sore but progressed from wheelchair to walker to cane and is now going without a cane so that is positive. I stand by my conclusion that they shouldn't be doing this kind of trip again but I am glad they are on the mend.

Never thought I'd say a jackal looked cute...

>18 BLBera: & >31 BLBera: Thanks Beth. It was great but tiring so coming home was nice (didn't enjoy going into work so much)

>19 FAMeulstee: & >33 FAMeulstee: Thank you Anita - hopefully the photos meet expectations!

>20 Caroline_McElwee: & >39 Caroline_McElwee: I have not seen Daktari - though I will say that there were a number of times that I felt that the experience was exactly like a Nature documentary or similar wildlife documentary.

>21 kidzdoc: & >30 kidzdoc: The photos of the young lions involved a lot of sleepy older lions and playful younger ones. The only issue is that they seemed so cuddly and cute it was easy to forget the kind of predators they become.

>32 SandDune: I did a southern Africa safari nine years ago that included Zimbabwe. We had luck with leopards this time and then but only on the night drives. We never saw one during the day (excluding the fleeting glimpse I got as the mother and cub ran from me during my walking safari). Very elusive animals.

>35 drneutron: & >36 katiekrug: Jim and Katie - I will say that I think Europe would be a lot more doable than Kenya was. The travel was rough on me and I am, of course, substantially younger. Driving over unpaved roads for hours at a time was tough on them as was the up and down. While mom gave out in Germany it was an accumulation of rougher travel that did it. I will note though that Germany at least, was less wheelchair friendly than the US which I attribute to the ADA act. While there was a wheelchair available for use there were odd things like three small stairs on the jetway to get in to the plane. The US has thought about access for the disabled for longer and it shows.

>37 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda! There are lots more bad ones too!

>42 Caroline_McElwee: Agreed - not even glamping as there was nothing rustic at all about our last stay.

>43 msf59: I actually thought of you and your love of birds while there Mark. We saw lots and lots of birds and once the guides knew that we appreciated seeing them they started pointing out even more. I mainly took photos of the pretty ones but it was neat to see tons of new birds. Here is one more photo for you:



>47 jessibud2: Thanks Shelly. I have been wearing a bracelet I bought at the Maasai village this week in part because I don't want to forget about it. I doubt I am creative enough to reach an actual solution but I also don't want to return to my comfortable life without investing thought into how I can make a difference.

>49 Caroline_McElwee: You snuck in there Caroline. Honestly, as cute as the little ones were we collectively thought that the jackals (adults included ) were beautiful animals. They showed up at the Cape Buffalo kill and spent time darting in and around the lions and later the hyenas to steal bits of meat and they were gorgeous. They seemed fox like to me.

Your photos are amazing, Erik. I keep thinking of "The Lion King." :)

>44 Oberon: I have had similar thoughts when I've visited Caribbean resorts. The contrast between the haves and have nots is stark.

Wonderfully visceral photos, Erik.

>52 BLBera: Totally agree - I especially noticed the phenomena in the Dominican Republic where it felt like the goal was to keep the tourists from seeing any of the actual country.

>53 PaulCranswick: Hopefully not too visceral Paul though some of it felt very wild kingdomish.

I came back from Africa and was promptly swallowed up by work including a three day trial that is now behind me. Kid activity season is in full swing and my free time is correspondingly reduced.

On the family front, dad has neck surgery this coming Monday with the hope that this will at least stop the numbness in his hands and feet from getting worse. With luck he will regain a bit of function. In the short term I expect him to be pretty laid up while he heals. While mom has recovered her ability to walk, her knee appears to have gone the other way. She now has to have a complete knee replacement (rather than her current partial) but is planning on postponing that surgery until dad recovers a bit from his surgery.

On the reading front, I finished the absolutely excellent Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez that deserves a full review but I haven't been able to fully marshal my thoughts about the book other than "gorgeous." I am presently binging on a stack of graphic novels from the library before I delve back into more of the Aubrey/Maturin series and non-fiction.

>55 Oberon: Arctic Dreams has been in my pile for so long, thanks for the nudge. And of course, cant read the sequel til I've read it.

Keeping everything crossed for your parents' surgeries Erik.

>56 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you Caroline. Is there a formal sequel to Arctic Dreams or are you referring to Horizon? I found this quote from the NYTimes that well sums up Artic Dreams - "'Arctic Dreams' is a book about the Arctic North in the way that 'Moby-Dick' is a novel about whales."

Totally right in my opinion. It is so much more than just a book about the Arctic but expressing it is hard.

>57 Oberon: Yes Erik, I was seeing Horizon referred to as 'the long-awaited sequel'.

I am definitely going to get to AD this year.

After a couple of stressful days, dad is through his neck surgery and on his way home. Hopefully it will address some of the nerve issues he was dealing with in Africa.

In other news, kids soccer is fine but the Loons and the USMNT are struggling. We will see tonight if the USMNT can right the ship verses Costa Rica. The Loons are in worse shape barely qualifying for the playoffs after they managed to blow a 1 goal lead against 10 man Colorado. I would expect a manager change at the end of the year if the Loons fail to qualify for the playoffs.

>59 Oberon: Best wishes to your father for a full and speedy postsurgical recovery, and I hope that his nerve issues are significantly improved.

I hope that Minnesota United can right the ship soon; there aren't many matches left in the season. It appears as though the Loons have the seventh and last spot in the MLS Western Division. Atlanta United caught fire after they fired their sadistic coach midway through the season, winning eight of nine matches before cooling off recently. The Five Stripes are in eighth place in the MLS East, so they still have a shot at earning one of the last playoff bids. Even if they don't make the playoffs their second half turnaround has been remarkable and inspiring, and it bodes well for a return to form in 2022, if not this year.

I'm still not a believer or a fan of the USMNT, and I expect that they will find a way to shoot themselves in the foot and not qualify for next year's World Cup yet again. One of my closest friends from residency is from Costa Rica and a diehard fan of Los Ticos, so I won't be heartbroken if the Costa Ricans win.

>60 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl. Mom is reporting some immediate improvement in his fingers (he has an easier time turning the pages on his book).

I hadn't realized that Atlanta had righted the ship. I feel like Atlanta has too much talent to be down for long. Plus an ownership group that is willing to pay for talent doesn't hurt.

Shockingly, the US survived giving up a goal in the first minute. Frankly the US looks vulnerable. I am not a huge fan of the USMNT, at least not compared to the USWNT, but I want to see them qualify for the World Cup and win some games.

>61 Oberon: That's great news about your father, Erik. I hope that he continues to improve.

Atlanta United won seven of eight matches in August and September, to put themselves in good position to make the playoffs, but since then they have lost two of their past three to fall just below the cut line. They are only one point behind the fifth, sixth and seventh clubs, though, so they could easily climb back into playoff contention with another winning streak. Fortunately three of their next four matches are against clubs beneath them (Toronto twice, and Miami), so they are still in good shape.

Arthur Blank, the club's owner and the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, is very invested in Atlanta United and has the resources and the interest to make the club competitive again, especially given the great following the Five Stripes have locally.

I missed the US-Costa Rica match, but I'm glad that our boys pulled out a comeback win. It would certainly be good for the sport in this country if they did qualify for the World Cup and had a good showing there.

>62 kidzdoc: I see Atlanta has moved up to 5th after the weekend. Minnesota briefly moved into 5th after a 1-0 win over Austin but wins by other teams left them in 7th by the end of the weekend. Unlike Atlanta, our schedule is brutal coming up.

Gorgeous weekend in Minnesota. Got to attend a Minnesota Gopher football game who shockingly managed to beat Nebraska. Minnesota usually struggles in the marquee college sports (football and basketball) so it was a nice surprise. Also got outside for a hike and some fishing. All and all, a nice weekend.

>63 Oberon: Atlanta United remains in 5th place in the Eastern Conference, after a 1-1 midweek tie with NYC FC. After a horrible start to the season they are now in great position to earn a playoff spot. I'll be rooting for Minnesota United to do the same.

>64 Oberon: Nice win by the Gophers over Maryland today. I don't think I told you that one of my oldest friends, Karl Doss, who I went to Tulane with in the late 70s and early 80s, graduated from UMN Law School in 1986. He's a diehard fan of the Gophers and Vikings, as his family is originally from the Twin Cities, even though he grew up in northwest Louisiana.

>65 kidzdoc: Fingers crossed. We have a big game against Vancouver on Wednesday. If we win we are probably fine. If we lose, all bets are off.

The Gophers looked good. There run game is really strong but I am afraid that is about all they really have so I think against better opponents we are in trouble. Interesting to hear about your friend trading in Louisiana for Minnesota teams. I am no Saints fan but they typically have better football teams than we do.

Minnesota has a lovely tradition of school being cut short in October to facilitate an annual meeting of the Minnesota teacher's conference. Even though my wife is a teacher, she has never attended the conference and we (like a majority of Minnesotans with school age kids) use the four day weekend for small excursions. Admittedly, based on Facebook lots of people used the time for larger vacations to places like Paris, Hawaii, Florida and Mexico which I attribute to pent up COVID demand. Having been to Kenya recently I feel that I can't complain much about other people taking nicer trips than me.

Anyway, we went up to a lodge on Minnesota's north shore along Lake Superior. We ventured right up to the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and did fun things like visited the Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota. Because we went as a family and the teenagers are exercising vetos we didn't do as many hikes as I would have liked but we still got out and tramped around some of our state parks. Northern Minnesota is gorgeous and a nature lover's paradise. It can be easy to forget that when you live so close.

That's gorgeous!

>67 Oberon: Stunning Erik. And did you see any wolves in Ely (as a Bloomsburyite, I typed 'woolf's' first *snicker*.

>68 drneutron: and this is being a bit late for peak fall colors!

>69 Caroline_McElwee: We did indeed see the “ambassador” wolves. Interestingly, they only had one timber wolf which is our wild wolf here and two arctic wolves. It was interesting to see the differences.

My wife took better pictures than I did.

>71 Oberon: - Wow!

Great photos!

Good luck to the Loons in their matchup with Vancouver tonight. Atlanta United came back and defeated Inter Miami 2-1 today, which keeps their playoff hopes alive and very well. Madeline's DC United won for the first time after a four match winless streak, and they are hanging onto the seventh and last playoff spot in the Eastern Division by their fingernails. They are two points behind sixth place Atlanta United, but they have played one more match than we have.

>71 Oberon: Stunning Erik.

>72 jessibud2: & >74 Caroline_McElwee: Like I said, northern Minnesota can be stunningly beautiful with Lake Superior and the northern forests.

>73 kidzdoc: Sadly Darryl the Loons have shot themselves in the foot putting in a terrible performance in Vancouver, Now we sit in eighth position and out of the playoffs with games against Kansas City and LA to try and claw our way back. Barring a turn in form I think we might miss the playoffs.

>71 Oberon: Nice, Erik. Especially the lower one.

Love the soccer chatter as you can guess and Darryl's "sadistic coach" comment made me smile. My own beloved Leeds United are having a much more difficult second season back at the top table, but hopefully we will be ok.

Also noticed from the above-
Congratulations on making it to 75 books!

Congratulations on reaching 75, Erik!

>73 kidzdoc: I'm glad to know you guys are still concerned about my DC United team. :D They are so inconsistent. One game they play so well, and the following game they play so badly.

I hate Ola Kamara. I wish they'd get rid of him. He's no striker. My favorite DC United player now is Kevin Paredes, the young guy who plays left wing. He was hurt a couple games ago, but there is only one game left. Oh...and Bill Hamid, our goalkeeper, is just amazing! I dearly love Julian Gressel, too. He works so hard during each game.

DC United finally played so badly at home, they are now out of a playoff spot with just one game to go. I guess this year, I'll root for the Five Stripes (and maybe the Loons, if they can work their way back up). I'm always sorry to see the soccer season end.

Overdue Loons update! The Loons won 2-1 over Sporting Kansas City aka the Sporks on Halloween. As you can see we were in attendance. The Loons are currently in 5th place. A win or tie will get us in the playoffs for sure. A loss - well it gets complicated.

>76 PaulCranswick: I see Leeds has a bit of a tough go. My middle child has been watching a lot of Premier League games on the weekend so I have gotten to see Leeds play a bit. Hopes for a bit of improvement in the future.

>77 PaulCranswick: & 78 Thank you! Hopefully I will get through a few more before year end. Bit too many graphic novels padding the total.

>79 SqueakyChu: Sadly, I can relate to inconsistency. There is still hope for DC United so perhaps all of our teams will make it through Decision Day in the MLS.

Congratulations on hitting 75 reads Erik.

Glad your team won too. Love the outfits - scary.

>80 Oberon: The outfits are great. You are a braver guy than I am Erik going to a game in that!

>79 SqueakyChu: D.C. United's season has certainly fallen off the rails, Madeline. They could still barely get into the playoffs as the seventh team in the Eastern Division, but they will need to beat Toronto FC on Sunday and hope that the Red Bulls and CF Montréal both lose their final matches. Good luck!

Atlanta United is in great shape, on the other hand, as they are in fifth place and play their final match against FC Cincinnati, the worst team in MLS. The Five Stripes would have to lose in historic fashion, by at least seven goals to a team that has only won four of 33 matches this season, along with wins by the aforementioned seventh and eighth place clubs. Atlanta will likely finish in fifth place, but if they improve to fourth place and host a playoff game I'll consider going, now that I've received a booster dose of the Pfizer SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and may be in town, if they play by November 21st.

>80 Oberon: Congratulations to the Loons on their big win, Erik! I think it's obvious that those outfits spooked the Sporks and made the difference in the outcome. I wish them well against the LA Galaxy on Sunday.

>80 Oberon: Great outfits!!

>81 Oberon: >84 kidzdoc: I'm going to watch the last DC United game today with little hope for a playoff spot. We're now already down to the "it's complicated" spot below the line. I will, however, always be true to my hometown team of DC United (but I still do hope they get rid of Ola Kamara before next year!). Good luck to DC United, the Loons, and the Five Stripes!!

>85 SqueakyChu: I'm sorry that DC United just missed the playoffs, Madeline. Atlanta United came back from a 0-1 halftime deficit to win 2-1 over FC Cincinnati, and lock up the fifth seed in the Eastern Division; they will play the fourth seeded NYC FC at Yankee Stadium in the first round of the MLS playoffs. Minnesota FC has a 2-1 halftime lead over the LA Galaxy, and is in good shape to earn a playoff spot as well.

>86 kidzdoc: Well, I'm glad my DC United guys came back in today's game against Toronto with a strong win (3 to 1). This was a good way to end our season since I was disappointed we didn't make the playoffs. I like our new coach and think that most of the time our guys play with a lot of heart. I hope they make some good moves regarding players in the off season. We need to keep all of my favorites, though -- Paredes, Arriola, Hamid, Najar, Birnbaum, and Gressel. I guess I'll be watching Loons and Five Stripes soccer through the end of the season. Wouldn't you love for the Championship game to be the Loons versus the Five Stripes?! :D

>82 Caroline_McElwee: Alex had fun in costume so it was a good time

>83 PaulCranswick: I think we annoyed the people behind us but lots of people liked the costumes.

>84 kidzdoc:, >85 SqueakyChu:, >86 kidzdoc:, >87 SqueakyChu: I am playing catch up! Decision Day is done and the Loons finished 5th in the West (following a 3-3 tie against LA Galaxy) and the Five Stripes 5th in the East. Madeline my condolences to you and DC United. The Loons were a hair's breadth away today. Real Salt Lake scored a 95th minute goal to beat Kansas City meaning that if the Loons had lost they would have dropped out of the playoffs entirely. As it was, a tie was good enough for 5th. Astonishing how close it came down to. The Loons play Portland for the first round of the playoffs which is a game I think we have a chance to win. After that I have my doubts.

I will hope for the Loons v Five Stripes MLS Cup but a lot of things will have to break right for our respective teams. To end on a positive note, the Loons are the first team to make the playoffs after an 0-4 start.

>88 Oberon: Congratulations to Minnesota United for holding off the LA Galaxy and securing a playoff spot! Our clubs both finished in fifth place in their divisions, as you said, and will face the fourth place clubs in the first round of the MLS playoffs, the Portland Timbers and NYC FC, respectively. Atlanta United also had to overcome a horrible start to the season to earn a playoff bid, as the Five Stripes only won two of its first 17 games, and were in 11th place (out of 14 clubs) in the Eastern Division at the halfway point of the season (nine ties in the other 15 first half matches helped tremendously, though). Fortunately the club's management fired its controversial head coach who started the season, and they finished 11-3-3 in the season's second half, after they were left for dead by many of us, me included.

>87 SqueakyChu: I'm with Erik. If the Five Stripes and Loons win their opening matches they would both face the top clubs in each division, the New England Revolution (who had the best season record in MLS history) in the East, and the Colorado Rapids in the West, both road games for our teams, and possibly in inclement weather, although Denver will probably be better than Minneapolis in late November. Even if Atlanta United loses to NYC FC it will have been a successful campaign, given their strong finish to the season.

Unfortunately we can't say the same about our NFL football clubs, the Eagles and Vikings, and our undergraduate football clubs, Rutgers and Minnesota, although the Gophers still control their destiny in the (meek) Western Division of the Big Ten. Pitt (my medical school alma mater) is ranked 22nd in the country at 7-2, and the Panthers do control their own destiny in the ACC's Coastal Division, so there's that.

>89 kidzdoc: They barely managed. Lucky for us that the Galaxy produced a late own goal to balance out Chicharito's efforts. As a commentator on Twitter noted, MLS Decision Day is probably not international quality football but it is entertaining.

As you noted, both the Gophers and Vikings floundered over the weekend. Truthfully I don't care much about the Vikings but it was a frustrating Gopher game. Honestly, I half expected it as the U of M announced a 7 year contract extension with Fleck midweek so in classic Minnesota fashion it is time to watch him go downhill from here on out. (See Joe Mauer, Kirk Cousins, so on and so on).

>50 Oberon: Love the bird up there in post #50. Do you know what it is?

I also love all the MN photos. Gorgeous part of the country.

>91 msf59: Hey Mark. Pretty sure that is a Lilac-Breasted Roller.

Are you coming back to our Sax-Zim bog this year? Let me know if you want some unsolicited thoughts on Costa Rica. We have been a couple of times and love it.

>90 Oberon: I think the comment is spot on, Erik. I had just as much fun watching Leeds in the Championship (the 2nd tier) or I do seeing them in the EPL although I would obviously prefer them being in the latter.

"Goalmouth incidents" as we say in the UK make for entertainment.

Hi Erik! I came here to taunt you, as I am looking forward to watching the Timbers beat the Loons in a few weeks. I know that the Loons beat us before, but the Timbers are in good form, and I bet they will win at home. (I hope that I can get tickets... usually playoffs sell out fast, but things have been slow lately. )

>93 PaulCranswick: "Goalmouth incidents" is a great description Paul. I hope MLS and US Soccer gets to the point of being strong enough to have a relegation system. Long ways off here I am afraid.

>94 banjo123: Ha! I welcome the taunts! The Loons have looked good against Portland in the last couple matches. That said, playing in front of the Timbers Army is going to be a challenge. Should be a good game. Sadly, who ever wins doesn't get much of a prize as the follow on game will be tough for either team.

1177 B.C. by Eric Cline

This book details the civilizations at the height of the Bronze Age and how virtually all of those civilizations went through some form of collapse, all at about the same time. Basically it is the story of the first dark age that we have a decent amount of information about.

Originally, much of the blame for this dark age was put on the "Sea Peoples", a poorly understood group of migrants that warred with many of the existing states. Without confirmed evidence of a Sea Peoples homeland or writings by the people we have only third-hand accounts of enemy ships appearing off the coasts of countries and archaeological evidence of destruction. Cline discusses who the Sea Peoples may have been and why they might have been on the move. Most interestingly, he suggests that they may be early climate refugees forced out of their homeland in the eastern Mediterranean due to long term drought.

That said, Cline does not purport to have all the answers. Rather, he presents much of the book as a detective story and goes over the various suspects for the collapse and discusses the evidence, for and against each theory. Other culprits range from disease, to earthquake, to volcanic explosion. Ultimately Cline expresses the opinion that is a combination of virtually all of these factors and posits that the collapse of the Bronze Age civilizations is a cascade failure where they interconnected nature of the world led to greater destruction because of the inter-reliance between the civilizations. This, in turn, comes to the relevance of a book like this for modern readers. While a connected world is generally considered a positive in today's world, 1177 B.C. suggests that it might not be such a good thing. A catastrophic collapse in one region can bring down neighbors dealing with refugees, loss of allies, and loss of trade even when not directly impacted by the natural or man-made disaster. We are currently seeing such issues as the developed world struggles with refugees fleeing war in place like Syria (the war is often attributed, in part, to climate change pushing rural populations into urban areas that could not cope with the influx).

A final note on this book, I listened to the updated second edition. Usually I don't pay attention to the edition of the book but I think it bears doing so here. Cline updated the book based on new archaeological discoveries that had occurred since the original publication. As such, some theories gained in evidence and others became less likely. Cline did an excellent job discussing new findings and then explaining why it did or did not update his own theories and conclusions.

The end result is that 1177 B.C. is a surprisingly timely and relevant book. Recommended.

Nice review. Looks like I need to find that one.

>96 Oberon: Fascinating Erik. Adding to list.

>97 drneutron: & >98 Caroline_McElwee: Worth seeking out. I found it very interesting.

The Loons season ended tonight with a 3-1 loss to Portland. Not the Loons finest game. It did not help that our starting goalie got COVID shortly before the game so our backup started but frankly the goals that were given up were more the fault of our defense and midfield rather than goalie. Sigh. Time to go back to obsessing over transfers in the offseason.

In other news, I got my booster shot on Thursday. Again, I reacted poorly to it leaving pretty sick for about 24 hours. Nevertheless, I am grateful for it as it will mean much more normal Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations for this year.

Hi Erik! Here to gloat a little about the Timbers win. I went to the game and had a great time. There were quite a few Loons supporters there; they did seem like a nice group.

And hooray for booster shots!

>102 banjo123: Sigh - you are about the only one who gets to gloat. The Loons are out, DC United missed the playoffs and Atlanta got eliminated. Not many other hard core MLS fans lurking here.

Two things - do you agree that Portland should have gotten a penalty for a handball in the box toward the end? And, more importantly, good luck against the Rapids! Playing in Denver is going to be tough.

>103 Oberon: Thanks, Erik! They will need luck in Denver, but they are in good form so I wouldn't rule them out.

I didn't see a handball, but the ball was pinging around in the box quite a bit.

Hi there! Saw you on Banjo's thread, talking soccer of course, and realized I had lost your thread!! But now you're found. : )

>100 Oberon: Having lived in both places, a win by either team makes me happy.

>101 Oberon: Congrats!! Got my booster on Sunday and had a fever all day Monday, but today I am feeling better. Glad to have it headed in to the holidays and with COVID number spiking again.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

>105 Berly: Happy Thanksgiving! Glad to be found.

It seems like a lot of people react to the boosters. Three other people in my office got boosters and were down for about a day and a half. Beats the heck out of the alternative I guess.

A Thanksgiving to Friends (Lighting the Way)

In difficult times
a friend is there to light the way
to lighten the load,
to show the path,
to smooth the road

At the darkest hour
a friend, with a word of truth
points to light
and the encroaching dawn
is in the plainest sight.

Erik, to a friend in books and more this Thanksgiving

Erik, I am so very grateful for you, another wonderful friend here on LT.

I wish you (and yours) happiness and health on this day of Thanksgiving. And cookies. : )

Happy Thanksgiving, Erik

>107 PaulCranswick:, >108 Berly:, >109 jessibud2: Thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes!

We were able to host our families for Thanksgiving and thankfully have no issues with family members opting out of vaccinations. Ended up being 20 people split pretty evenly between kids and adults.

I went for a long hike on Friday as I have been trying to follow the REI #optoutside motto since it coincides with my attempts to hike regularly.

After a bit of a hiatus, I have a jumbo sized art in the office update. As a refresher, this consists of art work that resides at my law office rather than my house mainly because my wife does not share my aesthetics, especially in the area of African art. I ran out of room awhile ago.

A long time professor and collector of West African terracotta passed away and his spectacular collection went up for auction. While he had a lot more than terracotta work I didn't manage to snag any of the other categories.






The cultures are Nok, Katsina, and Bura.

Once I figure out some of my space constraints (shelving is being installed as part of a remodel) I intend to work on lighting and a better display.

Wow, those are cool!

>111 Oberon: Impressive Erik.

>111 Oberon: Nice collection, Erik.
The small one on the left on the second picture looks intriguing.

>112 drneutron: & >113 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks!

>114 FAMeulstee: I like that one as well although one of the secretary's noted it looked a bit like one of the attorneys employed here and now I can't unsee it.

>115 Oberon: Hahaha re your colleague. I used to play a game with a friend in art galleries, trying to find our colleagues in the paintings. We did especially well with Otto Dix I remember.

>111 Oberon: Very cool.

Himalaya: A Human History by Ed Douglas

A short review for a big book. Himalaya: A Human History is a history of the Himalayan countries up through current events. The histories of these countries (principally Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan) necessarily incorporates big sections of the histories of India and China. To me, the book was the right mix of details without bogging down too deeply into the details to make for a readable history. A decent chunk of the book focuses on the British experience given the proximity of imperial India and before that the East India Company and arguably a slightly different view would have emerged if told through Russian or maybe even Chinese eyes but I don't think that is a major issue. For me, being more familiar with the history from the British perspective made it more readable.

The book as a whole was a readable and interesting account of the region and a good overview of the history, politics, and geography of the area. Recommended.

Started watching The Alpinist on Netflix. Was kind of a whim and I found it totally engrossing. Reminds me a bit of the feel I got from reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.

I hope 2022 is a year with special moments Erik.

>120 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks Caroline.

Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes by Barnaby Phillips

This is a very interesting and comprehensive book about the Benin Bronzes. The Benin Bronzes (many are actually made of brass) were taken from the palace of Oba (king) of the Edo in Benin in what is today Nigeria. The British had been steadily colonizing the coastal areas of what is now Nigeria and eventually came into contact with the Edo people. Initial contacts were friendly but the British continued to push to expand trade in the region. Ultimately this led to conflict when a party of British administrators was ambushed and killed after refusing to turn back from a meeting with the Oba. The British considered the killing an insult to the empire and promptly launched a punitive expedition.

The British landed an expeditionary force equipped with a number of Maxim guns and proceeded to storm the city. In the aftermath, the Oba fled and the British helped themselves to the treasures of the palace and much of the surrounding religious shrines. Among the items found and hauled away were the Benin Bronzes, a series of masterfully cast iron plaques.

Thereafter, the successful British divided up the treasures amongst themselves with some going to the crown and some kept personally. Back in England, a number of the bronzes were sold while others were acquired by museums and put on display. The largest collection is on display at the British Museum.

Since the seizure of the bronzes there has been an ongoing effort to return them to Nigeria. However, this is far from simple and Phillips does an excellent job of fleshing out this side of the story. Nigeria, since independence, has hardly been a well run nation. Bronzes and other art objects that were repatriated were stolen from the museums charged with holding them and ended up on the art market. There are significant conflicts between the national museum service and the decedents of the Oba (which remains a hereditary monarchy - though now more a religious figure then a temporal power) as to who should get custody of the bronzes. Finally, Phillips expresses some of the larger questions around the bronzes. How they have become a stand-in for the evils of colonialism and how repatriating them really isn't an adequate redress for the harms caused by colonialism.

Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes is an excellent look at the objects, their history, and the symbolism that now invests these objects and takes a fair look at the multiple sides of the debate over their future



A photo I took of one of the Benin Bronzes at the British Museum

Lilac-Breasted Roller? I thought you were kidding around. LOL. What an unusual name for a striking bird. I just might take you up on a few pointers for Costa Rica. No plans for the Bog this year. Maybe 2022?

Happy Holidays, Erik. Have a great time with the family.

>123 msf59: Happy holidays to your family as well Mark. Hope everyone is safe.

I would love to take credit for finding the elusive lilac-breasted roller but they were absolutely everywhere. Gorgeous birds. I hope you enjoy Costa Rica - we have loved it. I will recommend hiring a local guide if you are going into the national parks. The jungle is really good at hiding things. We went with a guide the first time and he pointed out a number of animals, including sloths that I never would have spotted without help.

Have a lovely holiday, Erik.

>111 Oberon: Love that terra cotta artwork!!

And just FYI, I have more snow than you do for Christmas!! LOL



These were our family ornaments this year and, despite COVID, a merry time was had by all. I hope the same is true for your holiday and here's to next year!!

Nature's Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy

I picked this up from the library after reading Mark's review of the book. I loved it. Like, I am prepared to buy copies and start evangelizing for this book.

For quite awhile I have been doing a lot of nature reading and while I have enjoyed that reading a great deal, it is hard not to notice the rate at which we are destroying what little of nature we have saved to date. Given the enormity of climate change, agribusiness, species extinction, and so and so on, I have found it very easy to get discouraged. While I have tried to make small contributions like joining the Sierra Club and my lake association it is very easy to feel like there is no ability to alter the course humanity is on. Which brings us to Nature's Best Hope.

While the book correctly points out all the problems, this is the first thing I have read that offers actual, concrete steps that individuals can take to make a difference. Tallamy refers to his idea as the Homegrown National Park (not my favorite branding exercise) but what he is talking about is making repairs to the food web that supports the natural environment. This involves taking simple but concrete steps such as reducing the amount of grass lawn, planting native trees (especially oaks), removing invasive species, landscaping to support insect life, etc. All of the things that Tallamy is advocating for are doable for basically every suburban homeowner. Plus, Tallamy makes a compelling scientific argument about what we can accomplish if, collectively, the changes he is advocating for are made.

Personally, I am fired up and actively looking for a black willow tree to plant first thing this spring. People should read this book and ask themselves what steps they can take in their own backyards to make a difference.

Here is a link to the companion website if you are interested in more information (besides reading the book). https://homegrownnationalpark.org/

>128 Oberon:

Oooooh! This is a definite book bullet for me. I'll do what ever Doug Tallamy suggests (as I hope I've been doing for years already), although our little house has only a small garden. Everyone on this planet needs to make a positive influence on it whenever and wherever that person can.

Thank you for a great review, Erik. Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy new year.

Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year, Erik.