The Year of the Elephant!

Dear readers, dear family, dear friends, dear loved ones, and dear strangers who occasionally read this blog, a joyous new year to you, with apologies that we couldn't convey this wish sooner.

We have, you see, been in Thailand and Cambodia, walking among ruins, visiting Paul, riding elephants, watching ancient styles of puppetry, and, yes, occasionally getting mildly ill. As you do.

But we're back in Sydney now, and there is so much we want to tell you and show you that we are almost too overwhelmed to breathe.
















Small middens of seven or nine stones, built for good luck at Angkor Wat.















Wan-Di, a 39-year-old, but still babyish elephant. We fed her ripe bunches of bananas, and generally fell in love with her, too.























Traditional Cambodian costume-- a young boy dressed as Hanuman, and clearly bored.

It's true no official "year of the elephant" exists in any of the lunar animal systems; technically, 2010 is the year of the tiger. But we've decided this will be, at the very least, our year of the elephant, hopefully bringing patience, intelligence, and the ability to grab food with our noses.

Another short quick breath coming soon--