Another Year Older

Having left social media nearly a year ago, I didn't expect to hear from anyone other than my parents on my birthday. So I was very touched when I received several cards in the mail and a few incredibly thoughtful gifts.

Although I took the day off to spend in the forest, Kojo (painting on the left) and Kwame (painting on the right) the gorillas and my primate keeper team made me the most unique birthday gift:

My friend Ruth sent me this painting, made by a red panda at Sequoia Park Zoo in her new home of Eureka, CA (which adds nicely to my animal painting collection - so far I have paintings from an orangutan, 3 gorillas, and aye-aye and giant jumping rat, giant otters, a pot-bellied pig, a polar bear, and now read panda and have plansto paint with naked mole rats):

My friend Virginia, who also recently moved to CA, sent me this wonderful owl scarf. Anyone who knows me well knows that I love brown and there are two taxa of birds that I absolutely adore - shoebills and (as any Bryn Mawr alumna should) owls:

I turned another year older today - so time to contemplate life and be thankful for living another year. No better place to do that than in two of my favorite, most beautiful places in the US - Luray Caverns in Luray, VA and the Rock Creek forest, right here in DC:

LURAY CAVERNS

ROCK CREEK FOREST

Melvin Hazel Trail (Rock Creek Park)

Western Ridge Trail (the "strenuous" fork)