I have a complaint. . . .

I'm losing my favorite tram driver at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden starting this week and I'm not at all happy about it.  Ted Weiss has been my driver-of-choice for the last three years for the tram tours I narrate every Friday morning. He knows me well.  He understands I am incapable of getting the top off the water bottle.  I return the favor by filling a cup with little pretzels that we share throughout the morning.  Most of all, he knows where during my tour I like the tram to go slow and where it's hurry up time because I have nothing more to say.  Lastly, when my mind is starting to go blank on the third tour, he throws me the name of those funny looking Bald Cypress knobs that I keep forgetting.

In short, Ted is a great part of my Fairchild volunteer experience and I shall miss him.  I told him he had no right to go have a hip replacement when I needed him to drive for me on Fridays.  He absolutely agreed and promised to come back after the first of the year.  I'm holding him to that.

I know I write about my Fairchild experiences fairly often, but I never cease to be slightly awed at this remarkable place and consider myself lucky to be even a small part of it. To give you some idea of its international identity, here's a look at our tram passengers this past Friday morning.

On the 10am tour I was introduced by one of our members to his guest, a young man from Egypt.  I made sure to point out the Egyptian geese when we got to the Lowlands.  At the start of the 11am tour, I welcomed a couple who were visiting from Austria.  And on the 12 noon tour, one whole car of the tram was occupied by a perfectly delightful group of mature ladies and one gentleman who were visiting from Surinam, a tiny country on the northeastern coast of South America.  (Ted had to remind me that it used to be a Dutch colony. See, I told you, I need him.)

My favorite tram driver

If you have never visited Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, I urge you to do so the next time you're in this area.  Come on a Friday morning and I promise you an interesting tour.
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The beauty of Fairchild