I often wonder just what the school should be expected to handle. My students are in the 10th grade, and we can legally only do so much. If we venture into areas that we are not licensed to teach, we are in trouble. But who should teach kids how to get along with other kids? Who should help gay kids understand what is happening, and how to adjust to our world? What do we do with obese kids? They are often quiet, and have such little confidence. When I divide the kids into groups, I assign groups so that everyone will be included. Our society has become quite prejudiced against obese kids. Athletes, cheer, pom high steppers, etc are in. We hear so much in the news about weight that diet drinks and healthful foods are really in. I wonder who should help these kids. But then who should help the pregnant ones, the ones ready to run away, and the ones shoplifting. Parents are often giving their kids drugs and alcohol. They must see the cleavages of the sweaters - they probably buy them. The skirts are soooo short, and the boys' pants sag so much. The pop machines and candy machines are closed at lunch, but the teachers who buy food in the commons come to the lounge with fries, tater tops, greasy hamburgers, loads of grease and always a dessert. I think our school will be making some changes, but the changes need to be through the country. The school to tell the parents that their kids are obese? What a joke! Maybe there should be something the school could do about it, but if the parents don't know the kids are overweight, what good would it be to tell them? Sammy

Fruits of the lines like 'Splash of Cream' occasionally produce variegated fruits which are like the kind of striping seen here or on Green Zebra. With these (variegated striping) there is a white layer in addition to the two other forms of green (intensity of chlorophyll but referred to as "clear vs "yellow" skin) on their striped fruit. With these the white layer cannot be noticed once they ripen. It becomes "clear". ***** I think most folks will recognize Splash of Cream better by the name Variegated, or Variegata. It was renamed by someone in France and that was unfortunate, but is listed most places as Variegated. K, I was one of the first to grow Variegated and list it in the SSE Yearbook and while the variegation appears, best in cool weather, on the leaves and stems, I never saw striping on the fruits. When the immature fruits develop there's a darker green wedge shaped pattern of color at the stem end, but no striping, and they do ripen up red. Yes, the striping on Green Zebra is quite prominent as it is with several ofther varieties such as many varieties with Tiger as part of the name. K likes to misspell Opalka, so I won't go there,LOL, but the shape of what's being shown is not a typical roma shape based on the varieties I've grown out; rather I do think it's shape is similar to the many longer apste types I've grown, such as Opalka and Howard German and Sarnowski Polish PLum, etc. And yes, Opalka and many other longer, and even shorter paste types do have nipples at the blossom end and even certain weather conditions can cause the fruits of some other varieties to become slightly heart shaped and even develop nipples which is what I'm sure you're referring to at the end of your post. Carolyn, still waiting for Lazy to hopefully answer some of the questions I asked above. ( smile)

Great picture! A cat by any other name...

I meant, ON THIS trip.....did you get the vibe it felt like home, you didn't want to leave? Or...did it feel foreign...barren...too open? For instance...in Bali...everyone was on motorcycles and it was just too 3rd world to feel like home. Australia...if felt very comfortable. St Maarten it felt like people were staring at us, sizing us up. Fiji, felt like we'd entered a civil war zone. Two peoples, on the same island, at unrest. Yes, I knew what you meant. That's what I meant too. I think Iceland would feel very comfortable... every bit as much as Australia, for example. I can't identify with your other comments. Bali ---we could see living there. It has a thriving expat community and more Aman resorts per capita then perhaps anywhere else in the world; not what I think of when I think about lesser developed countries (unlike other parts of Indonesia). I can't really identify with your experience in St Maarten either. Of course, having a young family, that's all been theoretical. And I would never buy a second home outside the US; too big a financial risk IMHO.