Potpourri

Hello again, and warmest greetings from relatively cool down under, or next to down under, since Australia is what one usually thinks of when hearing or reading "down under" (reminds me of a saying I like - When you hear hoofs galloping you don't usually think of zebras" which leads to another I like - "When the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as if it were a nail," and the last one for today, attributed to various authors, "I would have written you a shorter letter if I had more time" or some variation of that. I am going to recommend a book, because I think it catches the essence of some of New Zealand: Long Cloud Ride, by Josie Dew. I could not find it in any Kansas library, but you can get a paperback from Amazon for about eight bucks plus shipping and handling. It was written by a lady who cycled around NZ in 2004 or thereabouts - went in the summer, but rained much more than usual. Some good descriptions of places, characters and events. And dead right. Hope you can find it. Joseph is taking driving lessons, three so far, with some progress. He has already passed the written portion of the license. Emily stayed home yesterday with a modest sore throat, but because of the concerns about swine flu the schools are being more conservative re when you should not attend. I would also, today, like to recommend a video/dvd that I was late to come by, Conversations With My Gardner, a French movie, sweet and sad. And a more recent movie, The Grocer's Son, also French. Fun thing - my sis sent me a magnetic poetry set, and Carrie's created this poem/haiku?/whatever: "zen for monkey look impossible in world of silent grasshopper be now you" and Emily's: "know all when insect grin is at work". Pretty profound, huh. Or not. (Har, har, har). For my birthday I got several e-mail wishes for a happy birthday - thanks to all of you for that, a book on organic gardening, and another that is in the disc world series, and a word game sort of like scrabble called addictionery - starting with a three letter word each player in turn then modifies it by adding a new letter or changing existing ones - e.g. egg goes to beg goes to big, etc. Joseph and I went to the new Harry Potter movie on opening day and liked it. Even though it was not entirely faithful to the book, apparently. Wish I could look a hundred years into the future to see what has been happening to/in NZ and USA. Interesting to think about. We are trying to cook more different things, even though the kids don't always like what we make I think it is good for them to at least have a taste. Emily and I had a good week during her school break - she and I partnered up the first week and went here and there, one of her favorites being Smiggle, a sort of home/office supply of various pens, pencils, notebooks, desk top stuff, in vibrant colors, including pink and purple. Then she had YMCA camp daily the next two weeks. She seems to really like speech and drama class at her school. Joseph is involved with a school assignment for his computer class designing a program that Emily can use to learn to type. I am looking into doing Pilates, or some old geezer version of that. Carrie is very busy at work. We don't have specific plans for the next school break, but will try and go somewhere by the ocean. I plan to get out a little more, see local sights. Most days are book ended with taking Emily to school, then picking Emily up from school, but I can squeeze in some short trips, and on Tuesdays Carrie picks her up which will allow me to go further afield. Well, have to stop now and walk the dog. Arf, arf, arf. Sincerely, Manford. Oh, by the way, Liz we wish you great success and interesting times in Rwanda.

Fact.....or.....Fiction

The average New Zealander walks 100 K/hour (fiction - it is 101.4 K/hour): The average consumption of beer at the 21st birthday celebration is 101 bottles (fiction - 101 cases): It takes at least twice as long to complete a road trip than the mapquest/google/etc. web sites say it will (fact), no matter where you are going (fact) : Emily won best player of the day ribbon at her latest soccer game (fact - though it may be the case that they like to spread that award around - she was goalie in the second half and even got recognition from the competition's coach for one save!): there are no earthquakes in New Zealand (fiction - recently mild earthquakes near Lake Taupo caused the evacuation of a small community because of fear of a landslike (these have occurred in the past)). And so on, and so on. Well greetings. It has been the coldest winter in 50 years, the locals say. We get frost on the car even the though the ambient temp is above freezing - I am sure the brighter readers can explain that. Emily is home this week - she gets a three week break from school - will go to day camp most days starting next week. My car is in the shop for its biannual (? - every six months) checkup. Finally had to buy some rear tires last week - Toyos or something like that. We are thinking about getting a wireless printer. Carrie has now had basic training in how to assess little, teeny babies using the Braselton scale. Joseph is off to Auckland at the end of July for a chess match. Manford is doing well, and is out more often, helping trim plants for propagation at the local Hamilton Gardens (they are a must see for visitors though none of our visitors so far have seen them), once a fortnight, and Thursday goes to a lecture about godwits, birds that fly from Russia (Siberia) to NZ. I still don't understand cricket, as well as some newspaper reporting of the goings on of rugby players during a game, but at least some of the local teams are doing pretty good in that sport. We are welcoming a new psychology staff person and his family today, so have to stop here and take a shower and wash my hair. I was pleased to read that Bill is making progress, and our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to him and his family. We also read that Liz is leaving for Rwanda in August: good luck and best wishes - what an exciting adventure. Sincerely, Manford