The Clinton Center www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org is an interactive hi-tech library and museum housing the largest archival collection of any American president, including 80 million document pages, 2 million photos and 79,000 artifacts. The main gallery is modeled after the beautiful historic library at Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland. The building itself is a certified “green” structure as defined by the U.S. Green Building Council, reflecting the former president’s environmental concerns.

The clouds overhead struck me as being a frivolous contrast to the elegant box-like structure. I had just begun my self-guided tour when these teens displayed their glitter teeth for me. Although the Oval Office is the most popular room, other points of interest for visitors were a White House table setting and a wall of presidential gifts, with this ceramic Asian elephant among them.

Although not on the tourist circuit, the charitable Heifer International Foundation headquarters are located in a strikingly modern, environmentally friendly building in Little Rock. With its mandate of promoting sustainable development by helping the world to feed itself while preserving the planet, humanitarian projects stretch around the globe. www.heifer.org

Bill Clinton’s speech at the annual Red Jacket fundraiser dinner for youths had a stolid political theme advocating that tax breaks for the wealthy be used to finance anti-terrorism port searches, but what really shone was his audience rapport. The man’s vaunted charisma is real, and it seemed everyone in the room wanted to shake his hand, get an autograph or have their picture taken with him afterward --- all requests which he generously filled. Except mine ….but it wasn’t his fault. June 17 being my birthday, I thought a picture of the two of us would be a nice souvenir. We shook hands, smiled towards a colleague’s camera, then waited and waited while the camera failed to work. Ah well, maybe it’s just dues for a photographer. Regardless, I was impressed with the time he gave to everyone. Little Rock is like that.

Humid atmospheric conditions over Arkansas create dramatic cloud formations, as observed on my homeward flight.