This is a sample. Please post on the homepage.
I visited The Great Elephant Migration, an outdoor installation in the Meatpacking District of 100 hand-crafted elephants created by the indigenous people of India’s India’s Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve to raise awareness of these endangered wildlife and to support conservation organizations. The elephant sculptures were created by indigenous artisans and made of latana camara, an invasive species that is endangering the forests of India and the food source for elephants and other animals. I “discovered” the elephants on a beautiful autumn day with my friend and scores of adults and children, and it was joyous.
Discovering the Dutch Reformed Church of Flatbush Cemetery
On November 16, I visited the cemetery of the Dutch Reformed Church of Flatbush, located at the intersection of Church and Flatbush Avenues in Brooklyn. The cemetery is blocks away from my home, but I have walked through it only about five times in the decades I have lived in the area and I thought it was time to visit again. According to the Historic District Council, the church was established in 1654, and the present church was built on the foundation of an earlier church, part of a Dutch settlement. Both the church and the cemetery are designated NYC landmarks. Many of the early Dutch families of Brooklyn are buried in the church cemetery. Sadly, the gravestones have been eroded by time. Even in the midst of bustling Flatbush, the cemetery seemed peaceful to me as I waked through it and tried to find gravestone that were legible. As I walked I asked myself, “What is life?”
