More on "those Hairy Hemi-Halos"

I thought for sure I would hear about the typo misnaming the prostate as prostrate. I confess, I do know the difference, but my fingers missed it.

Last column I promised more on the Mustache drive. I borrowed the title, "those hairy hemi-halos" from the newspaper in which an entire editorial was devoted to "Movember", the official name for the charity event. In fact, if you look at the website you can read all about it. Check out, http://www.movember.com/ for an introduction. Even Wikipedia knows about it. I was surprised to find out how big it is here in New Zealand and in Australia where it was started.

We were watching a morning news show while we were eating our oatmeal (yes, it is not all chocolate and wine) and one of the male hosts was talking about Movember, referring to it as the charity drive to raise funds for breast cancer. The female host swooped in and corrected him, saying, oops, he meant prostate cancer but he can't keep the body parts straight. It was funny.

Sigourney Weaver was in New Zealand for the past month filming a new movie. When the newspaper interviewed her, she mentioned the obvious facial hairiness of the men here. That was headline news. We heard her quotes over and over. The editorial in front of me says, "when the star of Gorillas in the Mist does such a double-take at the hairiness of the menfolk in our midst, it may be an indication that things have gotten a little out of hand". Spoilsport.

Tomorrow we make our final move. We spend our last New Zealand week in a cottage in Arrowstown. You can see it by searching Google for Pittaway Cottage in Arrowtown. We leave here on the 11th, spend one night in Auckland (to make our 7:00 am flight out), then leave for Melbourne, then LAX. It is over 24 hours travel time. Thankfully we have a nice rest in Southern California with my mother for a few days then on to Bellingham for holidays with the kids. Caitie will be home on the 15th and we are all excited to have her back after a semester in Italy.

Another wonderful day in Queenstown. We had a terrific lunch out near the original bungy jumping spot in the world. Sat under an umbrella to fend off the strong sun, although we were cooled by soft breezes and accompanied by the sound of the waterfall across on the other side of the gorge and the river rushing at the bottom of the gorge. Sure is nice.

Love to everyone,
Deanne