So far, we are learning to analise poems and how to properly read them them aloud. Also, to appreciate the sounds of the words as well as the meaning, if the particular poem has any. My new motorcycle is a 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 250. It just happened to be the right bike at the right time for the right price. But the most important thing is that it has me on two wheels again and also on the road. It's a lot of bike (well, enough for me) in a small package. It's acceleration and speed will is better that all but the most top end sports car. The Tail of the Dragon is a section of road in the mountains betwixt North Carolina and Tennessee that is 11 miles long with 318 curves in it. A motorcylce ridin' friend has told me about it. It's located between Knoxville and Chattanooga, in the Great Smoky Mountains. It's a three hour drive for me. Cain't hardly wait... Elia

Cool sounding trip, Dorph! Right up your alley! Congrats big time to Robin! And Jan? Stop getting sick! That's an order! I'm sitting on the bed of our hotel room in Sevilla, Spain right now. We got in a few hours ago, we've had a poquito siesta, and we're trying to cobble together a plan for dinner. Since this is the birth place of tapas, I'm thinking we'll slap on our walking shoes around 9pm-ish and just walk from bar to bar to sample the local delights. Tomorrow morning I have an all day market tour and cooking class set up for just me while Steve attends his meeting, and then we have the whole rest of the week and weekend to get to know the city better. My Spanish is pretty weak, but that doesn't stop me from trying it out. I know from experience that one looks less foolish making mistakes while *trying* to speak the native tongue than one does by responding to every question with a loud "Do you speak English?" Our cabbie was cool and helped me with my pronunciation and after some slow exchanges he asked me if I spoke French (seeing as how I answered him in half French/half Spanish). He was fluent but for his heavy accent (as was I, but for mine) so we got a 20 minute personal run-down in the city in French. I hope I can shake this jet lag nonsense because I'm so thrilled to be here right now and I want to soak the experience in. Life is so short and uncertain. I want to seize every moment on this trip.

About 15 years ago one of my sons was looking for organic fertilizer (aka liquid fish fertilizer), could not find any at his usual gardenshop and got a small bottle at a hydrophonic shop. 2 weeks later he got a visit from the local police. No "plants" in the house but a crop of water lilies in large containers next to the porch. They smelled the water in the containers! As luck would have it, he just had fertilized the plants. He got a red-faced excuse and has not been bothered since. Of course that he had long hair and a beard did not help matters, LOL.

I was driving to work this morning and noted it was 35 degrees, in the rain. I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas... was being crooned and I thought, Hm, not in Nashville! And then it started to snow, right where I was. It was magical. Black ice won't be so magical. Especially driving an extra 70 or so miles tomorrow. ugh. I have my Christmas bonuses and have spent one, of course, all on LF. The other I'll spread out. Time to dig out the decorations. The majority of it is in my attic, but the tree? may not be. Guess I'll stop by storage which is in part of that 70 miles or so extra tomorrow. Winter. I'm in the "holiday spirit", so state of mind it seems to be.