One...!

Ta-da-la-la, only one more day and then we go, off to make writing for the weekend. Yippee!

And, naturally, it's gotten colder and windy-er today, in fact, the temp is supposed to drop throughout the day, start at 37 and plummet. Plummet is never a good word when it refers to the weather. Never. But after today it's supposed to warm up a bit for the weekend, so it'll be okay for walking to restaurants and just plain walking which we both like to do. I always hope for nice enough weather to be able to write outside but it might be too chilly for that, I'll settle for it just not raining or snowing, it is still March in Wisconsin, after all.

March 24--Vanua Levu, Fiji. Day after day of blazing sun made Jean long for cool gray misty days and soft rainy nights. This was the last place she ever thought she'd live. Growing up she was never the one among her friends who dreamed of backpacking through Europe or sailing around the tropics. She dreamt of home and hearth, cozy firesides, and walks through pine forests. Instead, she married Bob, a chemist, who got a job with a sugar company. For a few years they had lived in the Midwest where they grew sugar beets. Bob had gotten promoted and they went to Florida where sugar cane grows. It wasn't bad there, at least it was in the States. Jamaica was bad, too far from home and too third world. Jean didn't understand the people who complained about Walmart. In Jamaica and even more now that they were in Fiji, she longed for the convenience and selection at Walmart. She was sick and tired of grocery shopping being an all day, six-store crusade, tired of never knowing what would be on the shelves. Why did she continue to crave simple strawberry jam when mango and guava was all there was in the market? And it was just too bright all the time.

How's that for a new twist on living in the tropics? I'm trying to not be predictable. What are you up to?
--Barbara