Davis Pictures

So what number were you on when you remembered it was April Fools day?

Arcadia, California has peacocks which wander the neighborhood.  Lots.  We got to know “Christopher” who joined us at all of our family events. 

In Arcadia feeding the peacocks comes with a penalty of a $1,000 fine and 6 months in prison.

I am at a loss for commentary on this.  This strained our relationship with Christopher.

It’s like Disney Lite.

Can’t beat the price. 

Great time with the Grandparents.

At the end of the day two people still had enough energy to smile.

What does it say about society that people used to go to a park to be “amused” with berries?

25 years ago Jen and I went to Catalina Island with my aunt and uncle.  Then we lived on an island of similar size for 8 years.  So our return to an island was sweet!   One special treat was seeing and swimming with dolphins on the way!

My daughters are pros at this.  Now there are mirror selfies.  One never knows when you will be in someone else’s selfie. 

Why did we only rename “selfies?”  What about “youfies” or “ya’llfies” or “theyfies”?

Jen accompanied Tovah to her gap-year program in Denmark.

Of note: this is the land of Lego; the Playmobil toys are very practical; the cheese is delicious (and expensive.)

Posers…  they don’t even have Instagram accounts!

It’s always fun to go on safari!  This is the Davis family at Murchison Falls – where the Nile River goes through its narrowest point.

The best viewpoint is from the top of the car! 

While night-driving we found a pride of lions devouring a kill.

And we found the lowly dung-beetle, a bug that has practiced take-out dining from long before covid!

Our new travel routine involves deep nasal probing…  Every time we cross a border now we have to go through one of these! 

In Uganda they will even come to you to administer the test.  So here is Jen calmly getting tested in my office while her friend looks on in horror (and instinctively covering her nose.)

No pictures of me.  I’ll have to describe my experience with words…  The swab went clear to the back of my skull.  It dislodged more hair follicles from my bald spot.  It touched memories I haven’t thought of in decades.  When it was finally over I could perform high-level calculus… 

Two months ago we decided to release rabbits to free-range in our yard.  Everyone loves it… except for the dog.

We haven’t had Mother’s Day or Father’s Day with our girls for a long time.  It used to be a precarious affair that ended with two excited girls in bed with mom along with dishes of toast, honey, yogurt and tepid tea.  Mother’s Day seemed to always precede “wash the sheets day.”  But our kids are teens now, and can make a great omelet. 

Father’s Day breakfast featured cinnamon rolls and mocha lattes!  I suspect that Mother was more involved in the menu for Father’s Day more than Father was involved in the menu for Mother’s Day…

This is a Giant Rat.  That’s its name.  They are not particularly rare, and, as rats go, are fairly clean, and, I’m told, quite edible.  Every time I see one I’m amazed anew.

Also, our first snake in Uganda.  13 years ago in one of our first newsletters we had the snake of legends that went after my family before I dispatched it in combat using my machete….  But now snakes are childs-play to us.

After 10 days of hiking covering over 170 kilometers including 30,000 meters of ascent (and, obviously, descent) we ended back where we started.  We had completely circled Europe’s tallest peak, Mont Blanc, traveling by foot through Switzerland, Italy and France….

Ice cream was 1 franc, so I had two (one for Jen and one for me) and then we took off our shoes and put our feet in a pristine Alpine lake, and talked about our travels with Amit, our chai buddy.

Then Amit shared his chocolate with us sourced from …. Uganda. 

I think that was a sign…  It was time to go home.

Yeah.  …Sometimes.

Sometimes there were bridges to cross the mountain streams… sometimes there weren’t and you were left to decide if you were going to wade across with your boots on or take them off.

Some people took showers at the same time.  Welcome to Italy.