Baby, It's Cold Outside

I went out earlier to fill the feeders and my ankles are still shivering. Little white flakes are floating down too. The weather guessers are saying we should have an inch of (shhh) snow on Sunday. Tonight I get to go to see the light displays at the Botanical Gardens with friends. It won't be a beautiful as it was last Christmas when I went with my kids, that time it was snowing like in a movie and was so pretty, but it'll be fun. And I'll definitely want to go again after Christmas when all the kids are home. It's something I can see again and again. They even have a horse-drawn wagon that you can ride around to see it all. Very fun. You wish you were coming too.

December 2--Rock Islands, Palau. From the air the Rock Islands look like model train mountains covered with fake moss. From the water they are just as evenly green but covered with real plants. Close up you can see the vines and the orchids, the great ferns and the pandanus leaves each as big as an umbrella. Under the green are paths trod by animals that slip like ghosts along them and caves that still hold stories from wars fought generations ago. Archaeologists are still finding the caves used by Japanese watchers sighting one from the other, finding a letter written on the wall of one, "Tell my parents..." It leaves you wondering if he ever made it back home. You look at these small bits of land so far from any continents and wonder how wars had ever found them in the first place. You can't imagine who would be angry or violent enough to disturb this peace and bloody this place by raining fire from the sky.

I loved Palau when we visited. It's very beautiful and has excellent diving. Stay warm today.
--Barbara