Letter XXVIII
Dear Steve,
I hesitated before starting this week’s letter, only to work out which direction to go. By that, I mean do I at least acknowledge Gilbert’s letter XXVIII, or do I explain the 5-week absence?
Not so much explain the absence, but talk about what I had wanted to do, but didn’t really achieve. It is quite difficult to go to a new location and become involved in its nature. Especially when that place is a bustling city, where the wildlife either is really in your face, or keeps it hidden.
Washington, D.C. is very much one of those cities; I am sure that there is plenty of wildlife, especially in the green areas. It didn’t take me long to focus on the cicadas in the National Mall. We walked from The Lincoln Memorial towards the Washington Monument. The cicadas were very noisy, but of course, I couldn’t see one. As soon as I approached a tree, they went silent, and I just didn’t have time to stand and wait. It sounds like a bit of an excuse; I suppose it is really. But it does demonstrate the difference between being somewhere and observing somewhere.
In Montreal, we stayed with family in a 5th-floor condo, with access to an open area. On one of the days, I sat on the decking; I heard some geese squawking. In the distance, I could see a small flock in the air. When you see flying geese from underneath, they are very organised in their V formation. It felt like I was at the same height as them, so had a side-on view; what was fascinating was the appearance of complete disorganisation: birds were swapping levels, and all over the place. Very interesting to see. I also saw a squirrel, busy burying nuts in the pots.
The train trip from Montreal to New York City is worthy of a mention in its own right. We were on the train for 10 hours. At one point we were travelling along the side of Lake Champlain. The scenery was breathtaking. Not just the lake and hills, the residences, the flock of cormorants sunbathing on the lakeside, the leisure activities on the lake, all of it left me with a thought; I can entirely understand why people would want to live there. It was beautiful.
During our time in New York, I really didn’t even try to look for any signs of nature apart from our brief sojourn into Central Park. We didn’t spend long there, but it was very pleasant. We were amazed by the Steinway Tower, a pencil skyscraper, so called because it is a very slim building.
We also visited the Natural History Museum; of course, whilst there, we had to do the planetarium, which was very good, but not a patch on the presentations I attended in the 60s & 70s at the London Planetarium on Baker Street. I did find the universe timeline interesting, and very well presented. The part of the museum that deals with meteors is also well worth a visit.
The Transatlantic crossing started with a dead bug which I found on a table at the stern of the ship. Even my assistant can’t identify it.
I suppose I should at least acknowledge Gilbert’s letter XXVIII, the contents of which are very different in nature to mine.
In his letter, Gilbert had the chance to go to Goodwood, to look at the rotting corpse of an Elk; this is not something that I would do.
All the Best
Bill
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