Sorry to hear about all that Rain

We heard about the rain hitting the Northwest from sister-in-law, Maryann, so we checked it out on the Seattle Times website. Amazing. Interstate 5, the major West Coast transportation line is closed for five days! Sounds miserable, and the photos of people evacuating their homes are compelling. We just watched a special on the drought in the Southwest, with entire lakes drying up, and police patrols making sure no one is watering their lawns. Whoever doubts global warming must wonder why the two days with most rain in recorded history in Seattle have happened in the past five years while droughts in the Southwest reach historic records.

In the meantime, New Zealand weather is outstanding once again. We packed up our apartment by 9:30 this morning, then walked into town (around the corner, really) where we sat in the bank branch office that is bank business in the right hand side of the office, and cafe on the left side. We have seen Starbucks share an open lobby with Wells Fargo in the ground floor of my former office building, but never have we seen a small tourist town bank branch office that looked like a cafe on one side with smailing tellers facing you while you sit in the center of the office at small tables and chairs. Very cozy. Very kiwi. Mike's favorite savory muffins are baked by a bakery that only sells to cafes; one a drive away and this one in the bank office. Once we found that out, we found a new place for breakfast. Most days are oatmeal in our own kitchen, but today we had to move out so we had breakfast on the town, or in th bank to be more precise.

Yesterday we sat in Starbucks for an hour because I had to upload photos and the only way to use my computer was finding wifi somewhere. It worked great (to all you Starbucks sharholders out there- the wifi offering does encourage visiting when you are on the road) but was expensive. To give you an idea- one hour in a Starbucks is $10 NZD, or $7.80 US. In an internet cafe, using their computers, we can get 5 hours for $12. We have a little piece of paper recording out time usage, and each time we return they dock our remaining time and record it on our little piece of paper. Much cheaper.

Mike just received word, while I am writing, that his nephew, EJ passed away shortly ago. Mike has been communicating with family members about his nephew's illness for the past few weeks and has been feeling pretty low. It is always such a tragedy to lose a family member, particularly the younger members of the family who we all hope will outlive us until their old age. To all the members of the Handron family, our prayers and thoughts are with you.

On that note, I am signing off for a bit. Write to you later.

Deanne