Elizabeth, Scott and Scotty Wilder

Salut mes copains

Walked around for several hours -- revisitng our old neighborhoods.: Avenue Bosquet, Les Halles, St. Michele, etc.
Fought crowds and crowds of people on the Champs-Elysees (just to buy perfume for a dear friend)
Dined at the Pub Winston with some old friends: Olivier and Claire
Learned a new language called Globish which basically takes 1500 of the most common global words and makes them accessible for everyone. It is used by folks from all over the world, who want to communicate in English.

And then checked out the Tour Eiffel which was lit up all blue with the European stars in honor of Sarkozy overseeing the European Commission for the next 6 months.

Weathering Pacific Heights Storm

My friends have convinced me to sit tight and weather the financial storm. But today, I saw a miracle. See picture below.

Update on Hurricane Bush

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

He's go the whole moon in his hands

"He's got the rivers and the mountains in His hands,
He's got the oceans and the seas in His hands,
He's got you and he's got me in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands"

"Maybe the moon will bring us good luck"

08-08-08 at 8:08 am

See this article: Baby born on 8-08-08 at 8:08
(and you won’t believe what the girl weighed!)

Time for a little politics

Lucky 21

Today is Elizabeth's birthday
and today marks our 21st month anniversary together (starting the day we met!)

June 6, 1968

In 11th grade (1978), I wrote the poem below. It was about June 6th, 1968, the day Robert Kennedyi was assassinated. I was 7 years old at the time.

yesterday i heard a famous person
was shot on the radio and for no reason
at all i woke up my parents to tell them
somebody famous died last night and
they sent me back to my room and told me
to get dressed for the last day of school
and on the last day of the school year
we had a tradition to walk through
an arch into the next grade and sing
a song everyone in our grade wrote
together but even though the song
was written..... nobody
was allowed to sing so we walked
under the arch without a word
and i looked at my teacher
whose eyes were red
and teary and when i got home
my mother sent me to my room
so she could be left alone
and on the way to my room
i saw a newspaper with a pale face
in a pool of black blood
and this man still
had his tie on
even though the crowd
was standing back
to let him breath
and I knew it
had something to do with us
not being allowed to sing
after we went through the arch
and it had something to do
with the voice on the radio saying
let him breath
let me breath

let him breath

First day of school

Today was Elizabeth's first day back at school. I drove her  there and picked her up.

...But wished I could have carried her books and lunch box.

Her students were very sweet. They welcomed her back with cupcakes and chocolate cookies (I had a few).

And her co-workers gave her flowers and big hugs.

The first day of school is always scary.

 

Hitting the trails (another dream)

Elizabeth and I sailed on a speed boat cutting across the Pacific on our way to Australia. The boat glided near underwater and surfaced rocks. Our guide who had a long beard and a white gown. We pulled right up to and onto the town landing. We walked to a restaurant. Others joined us. Others who looked like the bearded guys. They all had beards. We sat down in an indoor outdoor café. I had to go to the bathroom. I had to stand in the wooden stall. Some guy outside kept teasing me. Yelling profanity at me. Finally, I left the stall and knocked him down. I went back to the table. Everyone tested me.

One test -- I left my cell phone on the table and they wanted to see if I could find it. Elizabeth sat there, just eating and laughing. I told the bearded guys about the fight. But then admitted that I made it up cause I would never win a fight. The laughed and that brought us all together. Then we went to a cabin. I called home and told my mother I was not in France like I originally planned. For some reason, Hugh Dugan, a friend of mine in the Foreign Service was on the phone. Told them I was in Australia. It was difficult for them to hear me (lots of background noises) and difficult for me to hear them (lots of static). It was a relatively short call.

Got back to the cabin. Elizabeth had just showered. She was packing for a trip into the mountains. She showed me lots o f maps for her three day trip. There would be guides. She said there would be some climbing. I told her I was nervous about my knees holding up. She said people handle going up and down differently. Some crawl. Some hold on to someone. Some repel. Some just watch their balance carefully.

We agreed to hit the trails together.