Marabou stork are some of the largest landbirds out there. Some of the ones I saw around Lake Hawasa stood as high as my chest. And unlike the storks of popular culture, these ones have been known to eat children.
Beautiful, aren't they?...
Rainy season is here
1WTC
After years of delays, the new One World Trade Center is going up fast. I took this picture just one block from my office:
Business Week has an interesting account of how the redevelopment of the site was debated and negotiated over the last 10 years. And of course the next month will see a flurry of writing and coverage related to the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. Ten years ago I was a high school student in Arkansas and New York City felt very far away. My mom had been visiting her sister in DC and was flying home that morning. I needed to see the orthodontist in Little Rock so my dad and I drove down together to pick her up at the airport, and heard the first reports on the radio on the drive down. Nobody in my family flew very often so everyone knew she'd be flying -- my parents spent the rest of the day contacting people to assure them my mom hadn't been on one of the flights. I missed all the emotional reactions of learning at school that many people recount, but that afternoon I worked my normal shift at my town's Kroger grocery store as we had a small rush of people buying supplies, and listened to people talking about lining up to get gas, just in case.
The view from my window
Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish is one of my favorite blogs. One feature I've grown to love is the daily "View from your window," and today he featured a shot I took on Sunday looking out my apartment window here in NYC:
The market at Chichicastenango
Chichicastenango, a highland town in Guatemala, is renowned for its market, which takes place every Thursday and Friday. It's a mix of touristy fare (lots of fabric, plus some carvings and jade) and things marketed to Guatemalans (lots more fabric, and food):
Volcanoes & Panoramas
This summer I climbed Volcan San Maria, above Xela (Quetzaltenango), Guatemala, on my second day in town. I took a series of photos from the summit looking back towards Xela, and my dad stitched three of those together using Panorama Maker 4 by Arcsoft. The result (click for the full-size image):
And here are a couple shots from later in my trip, from on top of Volcan San Pedro looking down on the beautiful Lago de Antitlan:
Here
I arrived in Guatemala City on Tuesday afternoon, spent Tuesday night there, and then took the chicken bus up to Lago de Antitlan. I spent the last two nights in San Marcos la Laguna on the lake. I don´t have a lot of time to write at the moment, but I thought I should share a few photos from the trip so far:
More soon...