Hello,
I don't know where to begin writing about 2023. The nightly news shows one nightmare after another. At first I decided not to write a newsletter at all.
But then we watched Jon Bastiste's "American Symphony" on Netflix. It is a beautiful documentary about an amazing artist as he and his wife struggle through the darkest times in their lives. It takes place during the pandemic as well. At one point in the film, during one of the most anguished points of their ordeal, Jon is about to perform before a crowd and he says,
"There’s so much that’s going on in the world that I just want to invite you right now to leave it all behind. There’s so much. Let’s strip it away and share in a beautiful moment of genuine human exchange and love."
In that light, as we struggle through the ordeals of our times, I hope we all find moments to connect genuinely with each other. To be present in our lives and the lives of others and to take action out of compassion and love. To do what we need to do.
This newsletter of our life in 2023 is a moment for us to share with you, with gratitude, some of the light in our lives.
To remember that light exists and to do what we can to change the darkness that is too common in so many lives now.
Nat & Alex created the greatest birthday party for Stella who turned 8 in February. They went all out with this "Wednesday" themed birthday celebration. It was the first birthday since the Pandemic that Stella could celebrate with friends and family in person. Nat found an enormous bounce house and Alex made delicious gourmet "Wednesday" themed cupcakes. Such fun!
Nat and Alex continue their busy lives as parents to this lively 8 year old sweetie and have added a new member to the family, Sonny, the family dog. Both Alex and Nat continue their work as nurses on top of everything else they are doing.
Dick continues his mastery of the game of golf. I have yet to join this effort except to make videos of him with his golf buddies.
Stella joined her Grandpa this year running in the Labor Day Race. Dick ran the 10K and Stella ran in the Kid's Fun Run. I continue to be their cheerleader.
And speaking of "cheer", this little guy brings a cheerful heart with him everywhere.
We love you, Cully.
Elliott & Megan moved to Sherman Oaks from Pasadena this year. Here these two cuties are in their new apartment beside a picture of Dick and I on their mantel. We are younger in that picture than Ell & Megan are now.
Elliott is in his last year of graduate school and will graduate next May with his Masters Degree as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. He plans to have his own private practice in the future.
Megan continues her work as a doula and birth educator with hopes of focusing more on birth education. She also continues working on her voiceover career. You may have heard her in some commercials in the LA area.
So much talent here!
OUR BIG ADVENTURE IN 2023
We went on safari in Kenya. That is Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background. These images were taken in the Kitirua Private Conservancy by Amboseli National Park.
We were able to step out of our Land Cruisers and lay down in the dust of Amboseli to get pictures because we were in a private conservancy (and because there were no predators around).
Our last camp with Drew was in Masai Mara. The focus for us here was the big cats. My favorite had to be the mother cheetah and her two young cubs. We went to check on them daily. The rangers in the conservancy did too. They were protecting them from the hyenas who were hoping to have baby cheetah for dinner. The rangers will monitor them until the cubs are big enough to outrun them.
Lots of lion here. Amazing how much they sleep! Happy to catch his guy awake, alert and looking right at me. I stayed inside the Land Cruiser!
We spent a lot of time with leopards here. This was a treat because they are usually so elusive and hard to spot. The leopard below seemed to like the attention and kept posing for us.
Going back to our first week in Kenya
Our first lodge was in the Lewa Conservancy. The landscapes here were breathtaking. I took as many landscape images as wildlife images. That is Mt. Kenya you see here.
The managers at the lodge, Jonty and Sarah were wonderful. They made us feel at home. Our guide, Joseph, taught us so many things about this beautiful part of Kenya.
We saw many endangered wildlife species here and were encouraged with the care the conservancy provides them. Grévy's zebra, also known as the imperial zebra, is the most threatened of the three species of zebra. They are beautiful. Loved their "Mickey Mouse" ears.
Black Rhino are also endangered and live in this conservancy. It was amazing to see them.
Reticulated Giraffe is another species that is endangered and lives here.
Our next lodge was Tumaren Camp in the Laikipia Plateau. Laikipia means treeless plain. The landscape is dominated by rocky outcrops and hills. A very different landscape than Lewa. Here we went on walking safaris with camels. I took the background image here while riding on my camel. It was just Dick and I on these safaris along with William, our guide, LeLialo, the camel guide, Adon,our security guide and our tracker, Shalingi. All are Masai.
And my camel, Lorok. I loved him!
Our time here was focused on the people who guided us and took care of us. That included Charles, our chef at the tented camp and Nathaniel, our cook when we were camping in the bush and Pon, our driver when we were in a Land Cruiser. They shared their culture with us and made our safari much richer as a result.