Out like a lamb?

Remember the old adage that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb? Well, there was no lamb today-- cold temps and the possibility of slushy snow. Someday spring will come, but it doesn't seem to be fast enough.

Am still waiting for the stair guy to get in touch with me. I've been procrastinating about bugging him as I just don't have the energy. Maybe tomorrow.

I hate April Fool's Day, by the way... all the idiots who fall for the clearly jokey news etc.

Brave little daffodils

It's spring, or trying to be spring, in DC. Mary sent these photos from her front yard. I woke up Saturday morning to light snow and today it is so cold... but supposed to get to the 50s in the coming week.

Mary's (and my friend) Barb commented: they seem to mirror my feelings….trying to perk up but the cold just keeps me down!

What I'm Reading

I finally finished The Goldfinch -- nearly 800 pages, but it did win the Pulitzer. I have such mixed feelings about this book. The cast of characters is fascinating -- as I've said, no character I've ever met before in other novels. But it just goes on and on... obviously it held my interest enough to keep reading, but I wanted it to be over, rather than being sorry it was going to be over. Does anyone want my copy? I'd be glad to send it out to anyone who wants to give this book a try.

In the meatime, I started Bettyville, which is a memoir of a gay man in NYC who goes to Paris, Missouri to take care of his dying mother. Fuuny and poignant, and I'm enjoying it.

Back to South Africa

Meredith writes:

Today was a shorter, easier hike that got us back to the guesthouse in time for lunch. I sadly forgot to take pictures of our delicious meals today, which included eggplant parmesan and pear poached in red wine (which I was surprised I liked) for lunch and hake, stuffed tomatoes and apple cake for dinner. Pat - I promise I will try to remember tomorrow for you!

Today's route took us through a forest and across some farms.

And the photos:

Adelyn with her great-grandmother

This is Adelyn with her father's grandmother called

Mammy.

Meanwhile, back in the Western Hemisphere

Brad and his family are vacationing in Costa Rica. I could probably name all the Central American countries, but there's no way I could position them on a map. You can find Costa Rica here (it's the green one) and they are driving across the country.

I had sent the family a guidebook, one of those laminated fold up road maps (the people on Amazon said that the roads in Costa Rica aren't named!) and a laminated fold up guide to what animals are there. His kids loved the animals one and talked about what animals they night see.

Brad sent me this photo which shows his son, after breakfast (is there anything better than outdoor breakfast in a tropical country??), taking the aminal chart and looking for a particular bird he wanted to see. I love to see kids who are curious, and so much better than having their noses stuck in an electronic device.

 

 

Brad writes: From our porch in our villa. Even has smoke coming from the crater!

 

Meredith and Dave -- Day Two of the Hike

They walked 16 kilometers on the second day, and here are the photos:



gum trees



orchards and vineyards



Meredith says: We are on a slackpacking trip which means real beds, not having to carry our luggage and food is provided. Today the organizers mets us on the trail and set up our lunch.



My lunch box: deviled egg, ham cheese and pesto sandwich, mini fish cakes, salad and lemonade.



And we finished up at the Paul Cluver wine estate for a wine tasting