In Case You've Never Read It

Daffodils - a poem by by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

A Glass (Shelf?) Half Full

And they make happy house calls.

St Patrick's Day

Menu:
Bubble and Squeak (I am an anglophile not an eire-o-phile.)
Kielbasa (duh?)

Post Secret

I iron other people's clothes.

Thought for the Day - 8

"America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week."
- Evan Esar (who is he?)

Beauty School

Tysons Corner #1 houses the Paul Mitchell Beauty School. Young female (maybe a guy or two) hairdressers-to-be, all wearing black, are willing and waiting to practice on you. Are you brave enough to be a guinea pig? Two hours (whew!) later and $12 poorer I'm glad I tried it.
PS- The teacher hovers over anyone wielding scissors. Remember, it's only hair.

Home!

Monday #2
Fiji to LA- 11 hours, 5 movies
Airport Lounge- 3 hours
LA to DC-5 hours, 2 movies
We crossed the International Dateline three times in 4 days.

"Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so."
-John Stuart Mill

Garden of the Sleeping Giant

Sleeping Giant Mountains, Nadi, Fiji
Raymond Burr, aka Perry Mason, bought 4000 acres of jungle on this island to cultivate orchids. It's a gorgeous but hot and humid garden.

Fiji

Bula!! Welcome to Fiji!
My "Beautiful Fiji" cocktail followed by sashimi under an Ice Igloo.

Hotel View -Samoa

Samoa

Wednesday #2 -Treasured Islands
We left Auckland on Wednesday at 5:30 PM and arrived in Apia on the island of Upolu, Samoa on Tuesday at 8:30 PM. On my second Wednesday, 27 February I went to Robert Louis Stevenson’s mansion (Vailima) about 3 miles outside of Apia. Although he only spent 5 years here (his last) he managed to have this beautiful house built. Here’s the house and the view from one of the bedrooms.


Thursday - The traditional Samoan house called a "fale" has no walls, just columns holding up the roof. As we drove by these houses in the night we could see their table and chairs, their double bed, and the ever present color TV. To make it even more interesting, their relatives are buried right out in the front lawn.

Last night we had dinner with the current Prime Minister of Samoa -a quiet man who loves Obama.
Friday -The picture below was taken at the place we had lunch on the south shore of Upolu. It couldn’t get any more beautiful.

Saturday
Left Samoa at 5:30 am, arrived Fiji Sunday 7 am (the flight takes about 2 hours but we lost Saturday since we’re straddling the International Dateline).

New Zealand

Monday - Wellington
Wellington is a small easily walkable city with a lovely old Harrods-like department store (much, much smaller though) called Kirkcaldie & Stains (see above). The city has a cable car which runs right up the hill to the University (see view below) and the Botanic Garden which has a rose garden and the most magnificent begonias I have ever seen.
Big begonias:




Tuesday - Dinners
We are having super dinners every night; I have eaten more oysters in the past four days than I have in my entire life. Last night we had dinner with a former Prime Minister of NZ -a charming chap who loves Obama.

Wednesday #1 - Auckland
A brief lunch stop here between Wellington and Samoa. Our friends have a lovely old house with a terrific view of the Auckland Tower and it’s nice to see this part of Auckland again and to catch up with F&L once again.