Daughter No. 2 has returned from her trip to the South Pacific. She still isn't home because now she is in Florida with her youth group. During her brief touch-down at home, she deposited some great pictures from her stay in Fiji, in New Zealand, and in Sydney. Brief photo tour:
No. 2 in the middle--with two students from a Fijian high school. Funny, we were told to send school supplies, so everyone loaded up on Dora the Explorer type things, thinking they would be spending time with little kids. They cleared out the elementary age gifts before handing over their donations when they realized they would be spending time with kids their own age. Oops.
The entire People to People delegation on top of Mount Manganui in New Zealand. The story goes there was a beautiful woman mountain and a smaller slave mountain, not so beautiful. The slave mountain mooned over the beautiful mountain and sent night fairies to send his message of love. Upon rejection, he asked the night fairies to end his misery by sinking him out to sea. They got only so far when the sun came up, and they dropped the poor guy in the middle of the ocean where he sits to this day--Mount Manganui.
Given the sheep to people ratio in New Zealand (12:1, or 15:1, depending on who you ask), one must return with a sheep photo.
So, I'm standing in my living room letting my mind wander for a minute or two as I stare out the window and watch the day go by, and I see my neighbors walking their dogs down the street. They are nice neighbors who are always friendly and responsible with their property. That is to say they aren't like the other neighbors who heap rubbish behind their house like Ma and Pa Kettle and let their dogs bark for thirty minutes at a time . Anyway, I see the nice people walking their dogs, a big golden retriever who is as sweet as can be and as dumb as a post—he once ate a sock and nearly died before it was surgically removed—and a new golden retriever puppy. Then I see Neighbor Wife suddenly run down the street with the big dog. Then I see Neighbor Husband stopped in front of my house with the puppy on its leash. And then I see the puppy taking a huge dump in my grass. Let me tell you, that is not done in this town unless the dog owner has a plastic bag handy and is ready to pick up ...
Comments
Gorgeous photos, too. Daughter no.2 looks so grown up already. You must be very proud of her, Robyn.
And I have always wanted to visit Sydney.
I must admit to a terror of kangaroos, however. I witnessed a zoo employee getting kicked by one as a child and it gave me nightmares for weeks. Kicking kangas STILL show up in my nightmares occasionally.
And now she is in Florida. Ah. A beach. Sounds lovely.
I'm jealous.
And what a great trip that must have been!