Be careful what you wish for.

I'm giving that advice to myself.  For some days now I've been wishing for warmth and sunshine. If you haven't noticed it's been quite rainy lately.  But this evening on the PBS Newshour I heard a report that a large city in South Africa (don't remember if it was Capetown or Johannesburg) is totally running out of water. They expect to be at a zero water supply by August.  Meanwhile areas of California have been experiencing drought for the last several years (alternating with mud slides) so I guess I will take the sunshine they are forecasting for tomorrow with gratitude and try to appreciate the rainy days as they come, which they surely will since we are now entering April in Indiana. I was going to add that at least it's not snow or ice but the weatherman just said we may have snow by morning.  Must keep a positive attitude.  Must keep a positive attitude.. Hope that Easter Bunny doesn't freeze his floppy ears off.

a different Easter chalange

For years I have hidden plastic eggs filled with candy and money for my four grandchildren to find on Easter Sunday.  I even hid them at my daughter's house when she hosted the dinner.  This year Easter dinner for eleven people will be in my apartment and I've decided that, since the grands are all teens now, I will try a different kind of treasure hunt.  I have taken eight $5 bills and hidden them around my apartment with just a tiny bit of the bill showing. For example, one bill is folded up and peeking out of the slot of my piggy bank, another is rolled up with the edge sticking out of a small vase.  Their challenge, if they don't think they're too old for it, is to find the money. They can help each other hunt but they each get only $10.  Those are the rules. I hope they enjoy the hunt, and, by the way, I have made a list of the hiding places just in case. I wouldn't want to outsmart myself.  Now if I can just remember where I hid the list. 

Well, that's reassuring..

They are closing a section of Coliseum Blvd. (aka the bypass) tonight so they can finish the concrete work on a pedestrian bridge over the highway.  I must admit that when I first heard about this I remembered the pedestrian bridge that collapsed in another state recently, killing several people, and wondered if this pedestrian bridge was such a great idea.  Evidently others have raised the same question because it was explained on the late news that this bridge is built with a completely different and very safe construction technique and it will not collapse (barring earth quakes or bombs, I suppose).  So no need to worry when you drive under that new bridge. Just watch out for that out-of-control Chinese space station that may or may not be heading our way.

Andrew Lloyd Webber

This evening on NBC they are showing a tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber as a lead in to a live production of "Jesus Christ, Super Star" which will be on this Sunday (Easter) evening.  I'm so glad we're having dinner at 2pm.  If all goes according to the usual schedule, everyone will have eaten their fill and headed for home by 6pm or so and I will be ready to collapse and relax with TV.  What could be better than "Jesus Christ, Super Star"?  It was fun to watch the program this evening and to be reminded of the great musicals he has writen.  It also made me realize that while I have seen some of his plays - "Cats", "...Super Star", "Joseph..." and "Evita" - I've never actually seen "Phantom of the Opera".  I've heard the music of course, but I really need to see the play.  I guess I'll add it to my bucket list.  Not meaning to be sacreligious but the first time I saw "Jesus Christ, Super Star" it was a local production.  The man who played Jesus had a wonderful voice but was rather chubby.  I got so distracted wondering how they were going to get him up on the cross that I think I missed the significance of that scene.  I'll watch more carefully this time. 

Love your Sea Cow

Today is Manatee (aka Sea Cow) Appreciation Day so I decided to share a picture from my close encounter with a Sea Cow during my recent trip to Australia.

Isn't she beautiful? Is it any wonder that ancient sailors, away from home for months or years on end thought these beauties were mermaids when they saw them come up for air.  According to something I read recently, Manatees, who are closely related to Elephants, evolved from land animals to sea dwelling creatures. That seems backwards to me but perhaps they found floating around all day to be a more peaceful existence. They are still mamals but can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes.

I was able to take this picture at the aquarium in Sydney.  They have these glass tunnels that allow you to walk through /under the tanks as the sea creatures swim over and beside you.  I was lucky to get this picture as she swam quickly over me. 

A Child's view

Every Monday afternoon I tutor a 3rd grade boy from South Wayne Elementary School in reading and math. We generally have a good time.  He's a pleasant child who enjoys playing games (especially when he wins) and works hard while we're together. All of that is fine but sometimes we get into some interesting conversations which don't really have anything to do with his school work.  For instance today he proudly displayed the four staples in the back of his head which he got because he was bouncing on his mom's bed, fell off and banged his head on the edge of the bed somehow.  That spun off into a more general conversation. At one point he asked me how old I am.  I replyed honestly that I am 73, knowing that that must seem very old to him.  He responded (and believe me these words are seered into my brain) "I don't mean to be rude or anything but I think you look about 100." Yikes!!! Perhaps it's time to buy a burka.

Happy and Blessed Palm Sunday

I generally like Palm Sunday services and today was really no exception.  The music was beautiful and the sermon was thought provoking.  All good as usual. But about those palms. We are always given palm branches to wave during the service and they are generally waved with enthusiasm.  They are also always big, traditional looking palm branches.  But not this year.  The palms we were given this year were skinny little things.  They looked green and healthy but the fronds are only about 1/8th inch thick.  There is probably a very good reason for using these mini-palms this year.  I hope they are ecologically more friendly than the traditional, or economically more conservative but I didn't see any explanation in the bulletin. I wouldn't mind so much but every year I use two fronds to make a palm frond cross which hangs in my house for the year.  I learned this practice from the nuns when I taught in a Catholic school and I like it. But I will have to get very creative and weave about 27 of these fronds together to make a cross this year,  Now that I think about it, that might be fun. We'll see how this works out.

Speed Shopping Spree

Today was the second of my annual post-Christmas shopping sprees with my grndchildren.  They have been delayed this year because I was traveling.  Today's shopping experience was with my second oldest grandchild, a girl.  We had a tasty lunch at Chili's (her choice) with good conversation about her upcoming trip to France and lots of other topics including college plans and career dreams.  This, for me, is always the most enjoyable part of these shopping days. As it happened, we ate first, then shopped today. We shopped at the mall, but, instead of the long tours of many stores that I was anticipating, we were in and out of one clothing store and one book store in record time.  She knew exactly what she was looking for in both places, bought what she wanted and we were on our way.  Then a stop at Target and Starbucks and our big shopping event was over.  She was happy to have some money left to put in her bank account and I applauded her common sense shopping skills. Gone are the days of marathon sessions at "Build a Bear" and "Toys R Us" but that's OK. Every age brings its own pleasures.  By next year she'll be driving me when we go out. That's a strange but fun thing to think about.

I could have been a ballerina...

except for a few pesky details like my total lack of coordination, balance and rhythm. But, as with many forms of music, while I can't perform, I can be an enthusiastic audience.  That's my greatest musical skill and tonight I had a chance to practice it again. A friend and I attended "Coppelia" performed by the Fort Wayne Ballet with music provided by the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.  I enjoyed the performance very much and came away dazzled by the skill and artistry demonstrated by the dancers.  They were excellent and the Phil was very, very good as they always are. I enjoyed the fancy footwork and don't understand how someone can leap into the air, legs extended sideways, tap their heels together three times, and land ballanced on one toe.  When I commented on this to my fiend he expressed the opinion that it probably took a 'little practice.' Before tonight I had only ever seen two ballets, "The Nut Cracker" and "Swan Lake".  I'm really happy to add tonight's performance to the list.  

Looking Ahead

It's too bad when I miss a special day bacause I haven't checked my calendar until evening.  For example today is "as young as you feel" day. Not sure what I would have done with that. Tried sky diving? Gone roller skating? Run a half marathon? Really? None of the above, no matter how young I might think I feel. I have this strong sense of self-preservation that keeps me from doing things that have the potential for broken bones.
On the other hand this coming Sunday, March 25 is, in addition to being Palm Sunday, also "Waffle Day".Now there's a day I could participate in without fear of injury.  I need to remember to buy some syrup.

Cricket anyone?

News Flash!! According to a report I heard on the news this evening, we should all be adding crickets to our diet.  In fact we could also learn to grow and harvest crickets. Crickets are, they say, an excellent source of protein.  I found this all very interesting (repulsive but interesting) until the final comment.  It turns out there are "not a whole bunch of recipes" for cooking crickets. Awe, too bad. I guess I won't be preparing crickets for myfamily (I always try out new recipes on my family first) any time soon. Do not, I repeat do not, feel you need to share any old family cricket recipes with me.

The First Day of Spring

Spring began today at 12:15pm according to the local weatherman. So here's quiz to give you a sense of spring in Indiana:

Which of the following did I hear today?
A. A blue bird singing?
B. A soft breeze wafting through the trees?
C. A dentist's drill working on my chiped tooth?
D. Steak sizzling on someone's grill?

Which of the following did I see today?
A. Buds on the trees?
B. Fluffy white clouds in a sunny sky?
C, Some chilly geese in the river?
D. Someone mowing their grass?

Which of the following did I feel today?
A. Warm sunshine on my face?
B. 65 degree outside air temperature?
C. A dentist's big hand in my mouth?
D. A gentle breeze stirring my hair?

If you answered 'C' to all of the above you are correct in every case and have a really good idea of how my first day of spring went. I think the geese were planning to fly back south and I totally understand.

Happy Day

We voted in a new Senior Pastor / Head of Staff this morning at First Presbyterian Church.  She gave her candidate sermon which I thought was very good, only partly because she built it around the very funny story of a family camping experience which brought back some memories. And speaking of family, her husband (also a Presbyterian pastor) and children were with her, and I like them too. The truly outstanding thing about the vote this morning was that, for the first time in the 35 years that I have been a member, it was a unanimous vote. A true vote of confidence I think.  Now she just needs to break the news to her present congregation that she is leaving. I feel for that congregation because we went through the same thing a year ago when our head pastor announced, very unexpectedly, that he had taken a different position.  I do think that she seems like a good fit for us. She won't be starting until the first Sunday in June which is going to seem like a long wait, but it's so good to know she will be coming.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

I didn't drink any green beer today, or follow a raimbow or find a pot of gold.  I was tempted by the Lucky Charms eating contest that was going on somewhere downtown but I resisted. I did wear an old sweater that has some green in it and attended an open house at our church.  It was a meet and greet for our new (almost officially - we have to vote her in tomorrow) pastor/head of staff.  I liked her and her whole family very much. But  thinking about St. Patrick's Day, I was amused at how many members at the reception, good Protestant Presbyterians every one, were wearing green.  I have always been taught that green is the color of Irish Catholics and orange is the color of Irish Protestants.  We should have all been wearing orange but I guess, on SPD we are all honorary Catholics as well as honorary Irish.  I can live with that. I look better in green. By the way, the river that runs by my apartment was looking rather greenish today. And the geese were walking around with green feet. No, I made that last bit up but it would have been fun to see.

"To be or not to be, that is the question."

Or maybe it should be "To see or nor to see?" Actually, no question there.  If you don't have plans for St. Patrick's Day I highly recommend seeing "Hamlet" at First Presbyterian Theater.  Tomorrow is the last night for this show which features an all women cast.  I would have loved to have been in this play (the men get all the really good lines in Hamlet) but since I was gone on my recent trip for most of the rehearsals it really wasn't an option.  The ladies did a wonderful job.  After the first few minutes I forgot they were women and just enjoyed the acting. I also enjoyed watching the probably 11 or 12 year old boy in the row in front of me. During the long speeches (Shakespeare never uses two words where 200 will do) he sighed quietly, obviously bored, but when the knife and sword scenes were played he perked right up. Nothing like a good sword fight and people dying all over the place to grab a kid's interest. 
We also went to a really good, reasonably priced restaurant for supper first. The restaurant, called Nawa, bills itself as Asian Fusion and the food was excellent. Perfect Thai Ice Tea, I ordered my soup and Pad Tai medium hot and that was plenty hot enough for me.  My friend had her food mild, not spicy and said that was excellent too.  We both agreed we will go back again.

Beware

Today is March 15, in other words "the Ides of March" so beware. I'm not really sure why but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar".  For me it was the day I had my taxes done.  Nothing too tramatic, no huge refund but no big surprises, except of course that I do owe some money to the state of Indiana. A whole $2.00.  If that's the worst that ever happens to me on the Ides of March I guess I'm a lot better off than poor Julius. As I recall he got stabbed in the back. 

Oh happy day...

Pi Day that is.  Happy Pi Day to you all.  I admired the T-shirt a friend was wearing today.  It was from the "ultimate pi day" in 2015.  You know 3-14-15 or mathmatically 3.1415......  That's it. That's all I've got on Pi Day. I think perhaps you need to be a mathmatician to really embrace the day.  

Fiji Finale, the end of the trip.

One last look at the Orchid park.  I was surprised to see this pineapple hiding among the flower foliage.  The pineapple served everywhere we ate was delicious.

As we watched our luggage being organized and waited for our last group dinner, one person mentioned that she would like to get a sunset picture.  One of the hotel employees heard her, got a golf cart and drove six of us down to the beach to see the sunset.  It was beautiful.

I happened to turn away from the sunset and saw this cloud reflecting the sun and being reflected in the ocean.  Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and realized I had been dreaming about Fiji.  So many great experiences on this trip.  My friend texted me after reviewing her trip pictures and thanked me for "making her go on the trip."  We both agreed it was amazing. One last note.  We flew out of Fiji at 1:30am, February 24, landed in Los Angles at 4:00pm, February 23, (my first east bound International Date Line experience), flew on to Atlanta and after a long layover, landed in Fort Wayne at 11:00am, February 24.  I don't remember exact times flying to Australia but I know we left here on Feb. 6, got there on Feb. 8, totally skipping Feb.7. The effect of the IDL going west.

Fiji continued

I learned some bits of history from our guide as we travelled around the islands.  We actually were only on two large islands but there are over 300 islands that make up Fiji. Until the 1800s the Fijians were cannibals. Then the missionaries came and most of Fiji is Christian now, with a few Muslims and Buddists.  No hint of how many missionaries got eaten before the islands converted. Now the largest Christian denomination there is Methodist. This scenic view was from the beach at our hotel.

 During WWII the US built a large air field on Fiji which is right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This effectively kept the Japanese away and left the Fijians with 10 miles of air strips when the war was over. This opened the islands up to tourism in the 1960s.  In the 70s Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) founded an orchid garden
and built a home in Fiji.  We had a lovely walk through the garden but I don't remember the names of any of the flowers.

 We were taken to one of the earliest established villages in Fiji. No grass huts anymore.  This is a Methodist church in the village.

 We met one of the hotel cleaning ladies when she came to clean our room. We left a tip for her the next morning and when we came back to our room that evening found this lovely folded towel and flower arrngement with a thank you note. Very nice.

Fiji, part one

I wasn't expecting much from Fiji.  Palm trees, beaches and warm sunny weather all sounded, and were, wonderful but I wasn't sure if that would be enough to keep me occupied for the three days until we headed home.  As it turned out we had a very enthusiastic local guide for most of the time and it was a very interesting visit.

 Look carefully at the winglet and you'll see "FIJI". I really liked Fiji airlines - larger seats and more leg room. Look under the wing and you'll see my first view of the islands.

 When we got off the plane we were each presented with a lei. 

 We went to a Figian cultural event one evening. Native music, excellent food and a demonstration of walking on hot coals.

 We were all invited over to the covered pit to watch the uncovering of the meat for dinner.  Having seen something like this in Hawaii, I was curious but afraid I would be looking at a whole cooked pig.  Happily, instead, they uncovered many foil wrapped packages of different kinds of meat. It was the kind of joke I appreciated. Below is the only shot I got of the walking on hot coals. I didn't like the idea of them dancing over the coals in those long grass skirts but they knew what they were doing and no one caught on fire.

A last sky-high view of New Zealand

 Our last evening in New Zealand we rode in gondolas up the steep side of this mountain and had dinner at a very nice restaurant at the top.

 Here I am on the trip up. I was smiling but a couple of friends who are afraid of heights weren't quite so excited about it.

 A shot of a passing gondola and the view beyond.

 A view from the top...

And one more on the way down.  

More fun rides in New ZealandWe

 We travelled around New Zealand by bus and saw many amazing views like the one above. A view of Lake Wakatipu on a sunny day.

 In addition to bus rides we were treated, one day, to a trip by land rover into the high country where "The Lord of the Rings" movies were filmed.  We drove through a shallow river, see above, panned for gold and saw several sites where the movies were filmed. One road we traveled up into a ski area, no snow while we were there, was one-lane, gravel with no guard rails.  Just steep drop offs all along the way.  We were told after we were safely back on regular roads that it is considered one of the 10 most dangerous roads in the world.

 We took the land rover trip on a cloudy day but saw lots of waterfalls.

 We also took a dinner cruise on Milford Sound and saw these seals relaxing on their rock.

Lake Wakatipu again. This is a long beautiful lake.  We seemed to be driving along its shores almost every day that we were in the south part of the south island.  We stayed in Queenstown. On one outing we road in a 100+ year old steamship (built in 1912) called the TSS Earnshaw, pictured above. It took us across the lake to Walter Park High Country Farm where we had an excellent buffet supper, then saw a very expert sheep sheering and more sheep dog drills. You may notice that I mention meals a lot.  We did eat very well on this trip.

New Zealand sheep

We took a bus ride from Christchurch into the mountainous country side to visit a sheep farm.  I don't have much success with pictures taken out of bus windows so no scenery shots here. The drive took about two hours and all the way I kept thinking "This reminds me of Scotland." 

 When we got to the farm we were seated on the back patio/porch area and treated to tea, scones and other treats.  The picture above is a shot of part of the embroidered table cloth.  I thought it was beautiful.

 While there we had a demonstation of sheep dogs herding the sheep. This doesn't show the action but it does show the secnery.

 I asked the farmer what the heritage of the area was, knowing that the majority of settlers in NZ and Australia were from the British Isles. His prompt, proud answer was "Scottish". One of the local heroes was a man named McKensie (sp?) who was basically a sheep rustler who got the whole industry going in  the area.

 Their house was charming, tucked in among the trees with lots of flowers. While at the farm we were told that the farmer and his wife were planning to retire soon and their son would be taking over the farm.  On the way back to the city we passed this beautiful lake (below) and were informed that the farm couple we had just visited were building their retirement home at this lake. Very nice. I guess raising wool and mutton pays off.

On to New Zealand

I had been told that New Zealand has beautiful scenery and it does but it also has wonderful, friendly people, and fun cities. No bats! We flew from Sydney and landed  in Christchurch on the south island. On the day we arrived, our group of 40 was divided into smaller groups and each group was taken to a private home for a home hosted dinner.  This is the couple who entertained us. They, and others, host these dinners for tourist groups as a fund raiser for various charities.  Our hosts were very gracious, made us feel really welcome, kept the conversations flowing and served us the best food we had on the entire trip.  I'm sure this personal interaction is one of the reasons I have come away with such a positive feeling about NZ.

 I didn't appreciate how near NZ is to Antarctica but on our second day we visited The Antarctic Center.  The vehicle below is the type used to travel around Antarctica and we were taken on a drive to demonstrate what it can do. It can go pretty much straight up and down steep hills, crawl over huge obsticals, bump along at a ponderous pace and get you where you're going eventually.  It is the most uncomfortable vehicle I have ever ridden in.  I really preferred the hot air balloon.

 We had some free time to tour Christchurch on our own.  The city suffered two major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and there where still signs of the damage done.  One large church is still being rebuilt.  From one side it looks perfect but when you walk around it you see massive damage at the back. 

 As we were having lunch at an outdoor restaurant we saw black cars pull up and several men (looking like US secret service) standing around. Eventually, we saw the Prime Minister arriving to tour the museum next door to where we were as part of some event that day.  You can see her head beside the blond lady, who I believe is the mayor of Christchurch.  The PM is a young woman who is pregnant with her first baby.  Evidently during the campaign a couple of years ago she was challenged on the fact that she was young, married, and might become pregnant. She still won the election and seems to be handling the job very well based on some articles I read in local papers.  Did I mention that I really, really like New Zealand??

Sorry this picture is out of sequence.

a view from the top

This will be my last blog about Sydney. It'a a great city and we had fun there. As I mentioned earlier I did not climb the bridge to see the view but I did go up in the Sydney Tower with some friends to enjoy the view.  Here are some of my favorite shots.

 Sydney has a wonderful waterfront area. This is a broad view from the tower. Our hotel was close to the waterfront area and we walked there several times. Great restaurants and shops. One evening we spent way too much time in the Sydney Hard Rock Cafe because my friend discovered that the restaurant had quite a collection on display of clothes worn by famous musicians.  By the time she finished taking pictures of it all I though we were going to get kicked out. They tend to want you to buy something not just roam around.

This fountain was along our walk on the waterfront.  It's hard to understand what it looked like from a picture but the water swirled from the outer edges inward in a beautiful spiral and you could walk down between the levels of water.  Quite extraordinary.

more Sydney sights

Sydney is a great city and we had a lot of fun there. One amazing building was the Queen Victoria Building, a block long and five or more stories high it was originally build as a municipal building but now houses lots and lots of shops and restaurants.

 Inside there were still many features from when it was built in the early 1900s. This huge suspended clock was stunning.

 The spiral staircase did not entice me. Happily there were escalators.

 The Chinese New Year was being celebrated while we were there. Australia gets lots of Chinese tourists so there were lots of signs and displays announcing the "year of the dog".  Much cuter that if it had been the year of the rat.

 This display of dogs suspended from very fancy balloons made me laughl, especially this dachsund because my son drew a picture for me two Christmases ago of a dachsund suspended by balloons.  I think they stole his idea. And speaking of my son, he likes to wear bowties, so I decided to buy one for him at a shop in the QV building that had ties on display. I was informed by an only silghtly condescending sales clerk that their ties ranged in price from $500 to $2,000. Needless to say he will not be getting a tie as a souvenir.

Sydney sights

After Cairns we spent a few days in Sydney.  The Sydney Opera House is an amazing building and, as is usually true with things architectural, I took way too many pictures of it.  Here are a few shots from a distance and close up.

 A few intrepid people in our group did the bridge walk where they climbed up to the highest point on this bridge, saw the views, then came back down again. I opted to go up in the Sydney tower instead. Much easier. 

I digress

I'm taking a brief break from my trip review to give a theater review. This evening a friend and I attended "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" at IPFW Department of Theater.  It was a musical, performed by eight theater majors - one sophomore, four juniors, one senior and two freshmen - and they did an excellent job.  Great singing and convincing acting, even when playing the senior citizen parts. The play follows the progression of life from dating through marriage, children, divorce, and death. The scene at the funeral home where two old aquaintences reconnect is one of my favorites.  I also enjoyed "Single Man Drought", "Scared Straight","Always a Bridesmaid" and "Sex and the Married Couple". That last was a bittersweet look at all the interruptions children can come up with when all the parents want to to is get into bed together before they're too exhausted to care.

more strange beasties

 Most of our sightings of wild birds and beasts were in a wilderness reserve in Australia where these pictures were taken and another later in New Zealand. The above picture is an emu or close cousin.  In New Zealand wingless birds evolved because they didn't have any predators to fly away from.

 We watched a not quite "Crocodile Dundee" but very entertaining show as the man in this picture 'played with' the crocodile. Sorry about the blurry picture.  It wouldn't hold still.

 Another wingless bird. Not sure what it is but I know it's not a penguin. We did see some of those in NZ.

We saw kangaroos in the wild during the balloon ride but this is the only closeup shot I got. Not the best pose. We couldn't take pictures of Kiwis in NZ because they are nocturnal and very light sensitive. They look like fuzzy, fast moving footballs with long narrow beaks.