The Voice Box

San Diego Zoo was full of surprises.  Not only were there a high class collection of animals, but the landscape was adorned with many plants including a wide array of succulents which I love. The bus tour offered, is a must. Not only does it give you an important bearing on how to approach the visit, but it also prepares for the personal choice to make especially when you decide to walk.  Although I am not normally a zoo pe4rson, I did enjoy the visit, and would recommend it as very good family entertainment.

I almost missed out on Arizona this year.  Encouraged by the cold wings which were headed to my London base, I decided on a shortened escapade; no Desert Garden and Phoenix, just wonderful Tucson.  In case you are wondering, this has been on my calendar for the last four years. The itinerary is much the same as the years before, a Canyon visit, a couple nurseries, and this time the Ironwood Forest National Park.  I am truly grateful to Marty - Arizona Agave  for the effort in making the visit enjoyable, and that includes the delicious meals at the family Mexican restaurant. I will start off with Arid Lands which I love visiting, and is the kind of nursery that we do not have here in the UK. To get there , I flew from London Heathrow via Dallas Fort Worth in Texas, and I stayed most of the time at Four Points by Sheraton at Tucson Airport. In pursuit of looking at young plants, the nurseries are my first stop. And Tucson has a wonderful selection of the...

The last time I visited Chicago must have been around ten years ago. I was passing through on my way to New Orleans. I spent most of the afternoon looking around, and left by train later that evening. I vowed that I would make a visit sometime later. The visit last weekend was as planned, but in many ways it was very different. I arrived to find a city preoccupied with the staging of a NATO meeting, and the demonstrations which were planned.. The trappings were unexpected, lots of talk of security, lots of police everywhere, and sometimes unnecessary closures of streets, and buildings. Yet the locals seem to take with candour, even though they were inconvenienced somehow. Most pointed fingers at the new Mayor, suggesting he was simply flexing his muscles. Others were convinced that the security was probably needed. I wasn’t convinced; since I witnessed almost no demonstrations or threatening disruptions. My big disappointment was on Sunday when I arrived at the...