Originally posted on TalesAlongTheWay:
Though it looks like our chipmunk, this is a  squirrel found only in parts of  India.  We noticed them scooting up the trees and across the lane where we lived in Ahmedabad.  The  first significant encounter I had with this  tiny animal was in Agra.  You might remember the  most famous building in Agra is the sublimely beautiful  Taj Mahal . I was walking through the windy, narrow streets with several of the girls going  back to our hotel.  We noticed that at the nearby intersection, traffic was completely  stopped.  Several men were standing in a circle in the center of… Continue reading Tiny Indian Squirrel

Originally posted on TalesAlongTheWay:
Mother Cow is the queen in the pantheon of sacred Indian animals. In fact, she stands head and shoulders above the rest. There are group all over Indian demanding the government name the cow as the national animal to replace the tiger which currently holds that honor. You might wonder how this all came about.  Many years before the  pyramids were built in ancient Egypt, or written law chiseled into stone by Hammurabi,  or paper invited by the Chinese, the Indian people had given up their nomadic wanderings. They had settled down to an agricultural lifestyle.… Continue reading Holy Cow

Originally posted on Mark Bialczak:
It’s cold and beautiful at Onondaga Lake Park, just outside of Syracuse. Sometimes I let too much time go by between my visits to the shores of Onondaga Lake or the winding creek that feeds it. My view, you see, is that the body of water smack dab in the middle of New York State has lots going for it. Reputation be damned. My fellow Syracusans know the history. Here’s a short primer for the rest of the world: For too many decades, a big chemical plant used the waters of Onondaga Lake as its… Continue reading The walking trails along Onondaga Lake shouldn’t be a dirty little secret