On Safari – 2013

There is an exotic animal preserve near our town and my Mom used to pack the family onto the tour bus every once in a while to go see the animals. Chad and I discovered they host overnight stays in raised platform cabins and we signed up for a sleepover. I shouldn’t call it that as we didn’t sleep much that night. We played “name that animal” based solely on the strange calls, grunts, howls, and other noises. There was no way to keep score because we never knew if we were right or not, but it was fun. At some point, Chad started making up animal names and I’m sure the folks in the neighboring tents weren’t getting much sleep either as we had laughed and giggled all night.

The following morning, the preserve hosted a breakfast and then we got to walk the grounds in the areas where they have smaller animal enclosures with a guide to tell us about who we were meeting (animals and staff, both). After that, we all packed onto one of their double-decker buses to drive the range and see the larger animals.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Chad. It’s one of those rare moments where he was still, relaxed, contemplative but keenly alert, and for a brief moment not bubbling over with ideas and designs. I loved his constant energy and creativity but these rare moments were something special. I could see his childlike wonder at the world, his curiosity for everything, and his awe of nature.