The ongoing series of memorable Audrey-inspired experiences continued this past weekend, with a trip to see Safari Arnie. When she was a kid she was co-anchor on a show called Elementary News, and Arnie was a weekly guest who would show up with snakes and lizards and whales and stuff. We visited him at his home in the hills on Sunday, and it was a pretty unreal experience – walking up to the guy’s house is like walking through a rainforest, with giant palm trees, vines, and even a huge stand of bamboo planted outside. As soon as you enter the house you cross a small river with fish on one side and turtles on the other, and a giant cave bear skeleton stands eight feet tall to greet everyone. He’s got vines, bones, and all sorts of other wackiness on display, and is a really cool guy to boot. There were several highlights to the evening, but foremost amongst them was his story of how a robbery of his home many years ago was thwarted when the six alligators he was keeping in his yard started roaring. I only wish I could make something like that up.
"My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?" — David Mitchell