sights and sounds

This flower was the only yellow one on the entire bush.

All of the others were red. How does that happen?

This is Kingston, the bird who lives with the family that hosted some of us on Kauai. Kingston answers ringing cell phones with a very clear, "hello?" in a man's voice. He whistles at the ladies.

He is learning the first line of the Winnie the Pooh theme song.

And he cock-a-doodle-doos like the wild roosters and clucks like the chickens.

Now I know you've all seen roosters before. But they are ALL OVER THE ISLAND on Kauai. Let me just say, there is no need for alarm clocks. They seem to face directly into bedroom windows at 5:00am. And they aren't so afraid of cars. No need, really, since the speed limit on most of the island is 25 mph.

Aloha

I'm back in Nashville after an awesome week on Kauai. My sleeveless top, capris, flipflops, and tan looked rather out of place in Chicago where it was 35 degrees as I passed through. More about the trip later, photos included.

But I'd just like to say that my ticket from Kauai to San Francisco was somehow selected for a free upgrade to first class. That's right, Cole. First class.

And now I should spend a little time unpacking... which might distract me from how much I miss the islands, lifestyle, and friends I love.

First Home

Unless the home inspector finds a termite or two, this place is officially mine at the end of March. It is the cutest thing you've ever seen... hardwood floors in every room, lots of windows, clawfoot tub, front porch, and a full basement for storage!

And my car insurance company will be happy to know that there is a carport, so maybe I won't have a fourth hail damage claim on my car.

I stood in the house tonight and my agent said, "I can see you arranging the furniture in your head right now. Every woman has the same look when they're doing that."

When you all move to Nashville, as I'm sure you will, I'll refer you to the best mortgage man and best real estate agent EVER.

who's in charge around here?

Today as I stood in an unreasonably slow check-out line at a clothing store in the mall, I had the chance to observe an unruly two-year-old boy, his older brother, and their mother. And by unreasonably slow, I mean 45 minutes, so there was plenty of time to observe.

The little boy was cute as could be for about a minute and a half. But less so for the remaining 43 and a half minutes, during which he repeatedly:

laid face-down on the floor, while his mom tried to drag him into standing up by pulling on the hood of his coat, which he simply squirmed out of and laid back down;

yelled "MOM! HEY MOM!" and "NO!" as loud as he possibly could;

kicked his older brother, who gave a warning scream for him to stop, then slapped him when he kicked again;

stole his brother's hat and threw it as far as he could;

and wandered out of his mother's reach so he could run circles around the clothing displays and be chased by his brother, who had been sent by his mother to bring him back to the line.

So after 30 minutes of the rest of us women in line muttering things like, "if that was MY child..." and "My momma would've killed me for that," and "are you KIDDING me?" the kid wandered off farther than before, and was gone for longer than before.

We started glancing around for him. More minutes go by, and he doesn't come back. The mother FINALLY notices he hasn't come back yet and sends big brother to go get him. Big brother comes back and says he can't find the little one. She is unconcerned. Completely.

Then in walks a grandmother-type woman, struggling to hold the boy who is kicking her, saying, "Whose boy is this?!" We all point to the mother. The grandmother says, "Do you know where I FOUND him? He walked right outta this store and started down the hallway alone. ALONE. And you know what else? When I picked him up, he yelled at me to put him down, and honey, I never let a CHILD tell ME what to do. So here."

Still seemingly unconcerned, and almost without a word, she took the boy in her arms and held him most of the rest of the time in line. While he reached over her shoulder and commenced swiping and tossing the brother's hat.

Now, I'm not a mother, and I know that you don't win every battle every time. But kidnapping prevention seems an important one to win.