News lifestyle 2008-05-18 Andanh.com

Luxury safaris set up camps amid the animals Sat, 17 May 2008 19:47 EDT

OKAVANGO DELTA, .Botswana . It was a scene straight out of a Hemingway .novel. Gin and tonic in one hand and slathered with mosquito repellent, I sat on the deck of my tent in this remote outpost in the bush, watching as a blood-red .African sky began fading to .darkness.

Etched against the sky, like cardboard cutouts on a piece of .construction paper, a mother hippo frolicked with her babies. Every so often, she would heave her .enormous girth out of the water, and a cascade of spray would arc from her mouth in the direction of the babies. Then they would silently submerge until nothing was left but three pairs of shining orbs staring back at me.

So goes cocktail hour in the bush.

Slightly larger than Texas, .Botswana is just north of South .Africa. Although it has the world's second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS, it also enjoys a .reputation as one of the .Africa's most .prosperous and stable .nations, thanks to a long-held and .uninterrupted .civilian .leadership and a .burgeoning .tourism industry. With much of the land given over to national parks, Botswana offers an excellent chance for spotting the continent's big five game animals: lion, leopard, elephant, .rhinoceros and Cape buffalo.

EPILEPSY BY THE NUMBERS Sun, 18 May 2008 02:05 EDT

.. 2.7 million people are affected by epilepsy in the United States.

.. 200,000 new cases are diagnosed annually.

.. 10 percent of the U.S. population will experience a seizure.

.. 3 percent of the U.S. population will develop epilepsy by age 75.

.. 326,000 school children through age 14 have epilepsy.

Eco-friendly party is good green fun Sat, 17 May 2008 19:48 EDT

If you want a color-perfect Memorial Day party, go green.

When planning your back-yard barbecue or outdoor family gathering, make it eco-friendly by choosing foods and products that tread lightly on the planet.

It shouldn't be difficult for baby boomers to go green. Many of us grew up washing dishes by hand, wiping our mouths with cloth napkins, shopping in thrift stores and recycling pop bottles. Keeping the deposit on the glass bottles was every child's right.

Lexingtonians already are on the right track. In February, Popular Science .magazine ranked Lexington No. 25 in its list of America's 50 greenest cities. But as summer approaches, we might need to be reminded because we tend to buy more paper products for outdoor events.

From poorhouse to show house Sat, 17 May 2008 09:01 EDT

FRANKFORT . Thomas Dorman was too busy to renovate the historic home he bought more than 20 years ago . until he lost his job.

He was director of the Kentucky Public Service Commission until .the last administration put me out,. he said. .That and a few other circumstances, well, the stars all came together, and I decided to undertake the restoration..

Dorman, who is now working for the legislature, decided to tackle the entire project at once on his property, known as the Franklin County Alms House and Poor Farm. He hired a restoration crew and stone masons, and an architect to design an addition for the property.

The project is now complete, and the home is one stop on the Living in History Home and Garden Tour.

Garden is fertile ground for reconciliation Sat, 17 May 2008 09:20 EDT

Upon his death in 1854, London Ferrill was buried on East Third Street in the Episcopal Burying Ground's rector's plot. He was not the rector at Lexington's influential and powerful Christ Church, nor had he ever been.

Heavens, Ferrill had spent his whole life as a Baptist.

But he was unquestionably an extraordinary man of faith, having given over his life to God at age 11, having overcome physical and social obstacles to gather his own church flock until it numbered 1,800 and having lived a life worthy enough to draw 4,500 mourners to the funeral of a poor but pious man.

If one earns such a thing, Ferrill earned his place in that beautifully shaded cemetery. He was only one of three Lexington clergymen who had determined to stay behind to minister to the dying during the merciless cholera epidemic of 1833. He had lost his wife early to the disease but remained, knowing of the pain of loss.

RIght off the vines
Fresh fruit and vegetables — one of the joys of summer.Not everyone has a green thumb, though. Thank goodness for the roadside markets.

Chinese Dir