Natasha Tynes

From the archive: With Prince Felipe of Spain

Snapshot: Deer in my backyard

One of the things that I enjoy a great deal about living in the suburbs, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, is the easy access to nature and wildlife. Last week, while I was sipping my morning coffee and flipping through the weekend edition of the Washington Post, I glanced at our backyard and low and behold there were deer, four of them, right outside my dining room.

They just wandered around, nibbled on some of our trees, and chilled for a while until they decided it was time to move on. Such beautiful animals, I tell you! This is a scene that is really worth my daily commute back and forth to work. Long live the suburbs!

Snapshot: Deer in my backyard

One of the things that I enjoy a great deal about living in the suburbs, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, is the easy access to nature and wildlife. Last week, while I was sipping my morning coffee and flipping through the weekend edition of the Washington Post, I glanced at our backyard and low and behold there were deer, four of them, right outside my dining room.

They just wandered around, nibbled on some of our trees, and chilled for a while until they decided it was time to move on. Such beautiful animals, I tell you! This is a scene that is really worth my daily commute back and forth to work. Long live the suburbs!

Photo essay: “Welcome to Bear Country”

Probably one of the most memorable moments of this summer was when I saw the bear. This happened last weekend during our weekend camping adventure on Virginia’s Skyline Drive. The night before the sighting, the possibility of seeing a bear (a first in my lifetime) was the only thing on my mind. The reason for this was primarily because we were welcomed to our campground by a big sign that read simply: "Bear Country." I could not sleep much that night. I kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking about the possibility of a bear hovering outside our tent. Also, seeing the movie about a man being eaten by a bear just a week before did not help things.

The bear sighting occurred the next day around noon during the tail end of a five-mile hike (a hike that alone almost led to my demise). It was surreal. After taking a break, we were just starting down the trail again when we saw it. The bear was some 150 meters away from where we were standing. It was calmly drinking from a creek when my shouts interrupted its moment of peace. Hearing my cries, it raised its head to look at us. While I was busy shouting and cursing the day, the rest of the group were taking pictures. The bear looked up at the animated crowd and then just walked away. Just like that, the mammoth beast was nowhere to be found.

I have to say that although coming face-to-face with the bear gave me the scare of a lifetime, it was exhilarating. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Snapshot: Frogs at the Nataional Aquarium