Planting Lettuce

Russell came up with a great idea to plant some lettuce in one of our pots out front. As he put it, I'm tired of throwing out manky lettuce. So, Lyra and I took one of our larger pots and divided it into 3rd - each third has a slightly different variety of lettuce growing. So far, we're having positive results. She enjoys watering each day and checking on the progress. Lettuce is nice in that it offers instant rewards when looking for sprouts. She was particularly interesting in seeing that the little seed pod stayed on the top of the plant for a day or two until the leaves popped it off. Lyra's very excited to eat the lettuce - which is part of what growing veg is all about. So, in 2-3 weeks, we should be eating salads from our little garden.

When we move back to the US, I'm hoping that Russell and I can transform the Eastern side of our house into a veg garden. We've got the massive rhubarb back there and enjoy harvesting that for pies or ice cream. We've had the prairie going on there, but I love the idea of getting some veg planted. It's not the most sunny side of the house, but I'm sure we can get a few things to grow. We may have to plant a few tomato plants on the other side of the house - which we've done once or twice with good success.

I read about the Obamas planting a vegetable garden at the White House. This is the first vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt's Victory Garden. I don't know why, but I'm surprised by that. Surely the chefs would have appreciated access to some things fresh from the garden. The plans that I saw on line are quite extensive.

My grandparents would have given their eye teeth for this much space for a garden. I can just imagine now the days and days devoted to putting up vegetables for the winter.

Of course the Obamas didn't mention anything about canning. I wonder if they'll now start a new canning trend along with their gardening trend.

A Little Nachtmusik

Last night I decided to head into the center of Brussels. My hotel is out by the airport and all the times I've come here for meetings, I haven't been into town. I perused the "What's On" listings and found a concert of modern chamber music. It's probably not the thing I would normally choose, but I'm always up for a bit of something different.

I'm not a musician, so probably don't appreciate contemporary music for its technical qualities. I'm not able to appreciate how the composer switched from 6/8 time to 7/12 time and then to 3/4 time in the space of 5 measures. But I do think it's cool that modern composers find the most obscure instruments and try to "play"them in unusal ways that experiment with their sounds and qualities. And I can at least appreciate that for one evening.

The first piece, contemporary vocal solo. In German. 'nuf said.

Second was a duet for Alto Flute and Violin. I don't think I've ever heard an alto flute being played. The piece started out with a lot of plucking of violin strings, dragging the bow loosely across strings, and hitting the strings with the bow. The flautist was "spitting" into the flute. Actually it was more lie a dry "THOOT". She also blew straight into the hole - producing very little sounds and drew her breath inward on high pitched whistles. I was left wondering, what is the musical notation for "THOOT" and blow.

The next piece was for trombone and clarinet. It started out with a bunch of long held notes where the clarinet bell was held into the horn of the trombone and creating this interesting resonance. The trombonist had about 6 or 7 different mutes (is that what you call them? mutes). You know, those things that turn a trombone sound from BLAAT into a BWAAH. I never knew there were this many different styles of mute. Again, lots of long held notes using different mutes and experimenting with sounds.

There were a few more pieces with more interesting instruments. A pianist who played standing up so he could pluck the piano strings. A bass oboe and bass clarinet. More vocal solos - this time in French. As I said, I can appreciate something like this purely for the novelty factor. But the audience seemed to be filled with affiionados and in the lobby there was lots of swag and CDs for sale. Alas, my jet lag was overpowering and I felt myself dozing off. So, during the second interlude, I left.

As I left the venue, I spotted a street vendor selling Belgian Frite. My non-existent french got me through ordering "petit frite avec sauce tomate." "Ketchup?" he asked. "Yes, ketchup," I was a little deflated to respond. On the late night train back to my hotel, I checked my calendar for my first meeting of the following day. 6am - agggh - I'd totally forgotten about that conference call. But of course, I'm still jet lagged so 3:30 feels like a lie in to me.

I sure miss having access to things like this. In Milwaukee we're rich for choices on what to do each night. And of course we have Chicago close enough for anything we'd like to do. It's fun to be able to peruse the listings and think, "hmmm, what to do? what to do?"

Fundraiser for Charity

Last weekend, Russell and I went to a charity dinner with the neighbors. We went last year and enjoyed the opportunity to go out for a nice evening. Plus, it gives us an opportunity to get dressed to the nines.


Here are our neighbors, Juliette and Neil, looking mighty fine!
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And another fine looking couple here.
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I went to one of my favorite shops, Patrizia Pepe for my dress. The shop assistants told me, "Yes, Madam. It's a dress." After trying it on, I knew I'd need to wear it with trousers. When you're closer to 50 than to 20, it's not the time to be wearing super short mini-skirts. Yes, I lack adventure when it comes to fashion.
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I had a henna tattoo - as one does.

Crabby Cabby

I flew to Brussels this morning. I flew on Lufthansa. Was wondering if the plane would be nearly empty, but it seemed nearly 80% full.

Earlier this year, Emirates Airlines opened up a HUGE and spacious new Terminal 3. This has left Terminal 1 for the use of all the other airlines. So, even without economic collapse, there would have been a LOT less passengers in Terminal 1 than I am used to. Often times, its like a dodge-em cars as I try to manage my way through the Duty Free and toward my gate.

This morning the place seemed relatively deserted. As I made my way to breakfast, I was accosted by a friendly cafe owner who was nearly begging to make me a toasted cheese sandwich. I asked for it with ham (turkey ham) and tomato - plus a cup of latte. Nice not to have to push my way through a crowd to find a table.

We boarded at about 8am. The plane, not surprisingly, was full of Germans. I was seated near a group of about 20 women that seemed to be finishing a holiday in the sun. When the drinks trolley came by, I ordered a cup of coffee. They ordered beer. It was warm beer - I'm not a beer fan even when it's icy cold. So, warm Warsteiner at 8am totally didn't appeal. After beer, they moved to warm champagne. The woman across the aisle from me drank 2 splits. When the drinks trolley came again, she ordered a scotch and got a nice big generous pour along with another beer.

I was glancing across the aisle and thinking, "it's not hard to see where Milwaukee gets its drinking culture." And then, in front of my eyes I saw her nudge the bottle off her tray. In slow motion it fell onto the floor and sloshed beer all over my trousers and shoes. Not a drop on her. She apologised profusely. Luckily it was only beer and I was relatively unscathed.

When I arrived in Brussels, I made my way to the hotel van pick up area. I read the schedule and discovered that they don't start running until 5pm (and it was 3:30). I remember that I did this the last time I was in Brussels - in fact, I've done this the last TWO times I was in Brussels. I got a taxi and the cab driver was really miffed to find that I was going to a hotel only 5 km away. He probably spent all afternoon waiting for his fare. I could understand a bit - but c'est la vie. I was feeling sympathetic until he started getting all crabby about having to give me change for a 50 (in fairness to me the fare was 12 euro, so not like I was asking for a huge amount of change).

Now, I'm checked into my hotel. It's one of those modern euro-style hotels. Lots of cool ergonomic stuff and perks that are well thought out - but still pretty affordable. One of my favorite things is the "women's wing" - where all the rooms are reserved for traveling business women. I just like the fact that some strange man isn't following me down the hall to my room. Only problem so far is I can't seem to get the heat on, and believe me it's chilly in here!

But the best thing about my hotel room - BBC1 and BBC2. Yes, real live BBC television - the best! Just got through watching "A Move to the Country" - a property show where people are moving into the English countryside and are shown 3 properties and need to decide which they like best. I always wonder if anyone actually purchases one of these properties they are shown. Now, I'm watching BBC News - London. I just love hearing the music interludes - brings me back to the days of living in London. Next, "Best of Antiques Roadshow" - ahhh.

Jon is Missing

Jon, a bald eagle, was last seen Saturday at a bird show here in Dubai. He was here with his owners, Sandra Stuckenbruck and Zoltan Loerentei from Germany. (Zoltan - now that is the COOLEST name ever. Russell and I were just commenting that Sultan would be a cool name for a pet, but Zoltan is even better!)

He was performing with 24 other birds in a show called Birds of Prey when he was startled by an agressive Raven. The raven chased him off and he hasn't been seen since. With the hot summer approaching, he needs to be found fast - or else he may not survive the heat.

So, we're keeping our eyes out for a bald eagle named Jon.

Update: Evidently, after the story was published in the papers many people have called to report that they have seen him. So far, no one's called to say "I see him right now. Please come get him."

Update: Still no sign. The local newspaper says, "He is black with a distinctive white head and tail." Here I was looking for a black & white bird with a red head and distinctive ivory bill pecking against the trunk of a tree. OK, well maybe there are some who don't know what a bald eagle looks like.

Update: Almost a month after the eight-year-old bird, named Jon, flew away during a Birds of Prey show they staged, the German couple, Sandra Stuckenbruck and Zoltan Loerentei, who live in Dubai, have no clues as to where he might be.

Life's a Beach

Sometimes I forget that people come here for vacations for a reason. Russell and I have been known to ask one another, "Why do they come here?" It's hard at times to get beyond the day-to-day dusty, sandy environment. And in the summer it's so oppressively hot. And we're not really shopping or mall people. And I guess it's not uncommon for you to forget about the appeal of the place where you live.

The beaches here are beautiful and people arrive here by the thousands to spend a week or weekend here. Or 13 days in the case of the couple checking in to our hotel. And as you saw in my post from a couple of weeks ago, the mountains are stunning. And the desert also has it's own beauty.

This weekend, for the first time, we were tourists in the UAE. We went to an Emirate north of here called Ras al Khaimah and stayed at a resort on the Persian Gulf. The scenery was stunning. The skies were clear and blue. The sun was comfortably warm. It was lovely - and now I want to go back!








We dubbed this little fellow "The Captain". With his Thomas the Tank Engine speedos, captain's hat, and bling-bling gold chain around his neck it was hard not to be transported back to the 70's. Cue the sythesizer and Toni Tenille singing "Love Will Keep Us Together".

Dubai Hot Babies

Hello all you seekers of Dubai Hot Babies. Well, all 1 of you.

My analytics page told me that someone recently visited my blog by typing "Dubai Hot Babies" into a search engine (like google). Other recent hits have come from searches for "Dubai Open", "Bubble Yum", and "cockroach how many legs".

Hmmm - it's amazing the things people look for on the web. The Hot Babies - I'm thinkin' the guy meant Hot Babes and was going to be disappointed unless he changed his search criteria.

So, for all you google engine searchers who have landed here completely by mistake - "Hello!"

We've Been Robbed

Monday is supposed to be a holiday. It was on the calendar as a day off to celebrate the Prophet's (pbuh) birthday. Lyra actually has a four day weekend because it seems a bit silly to go to school on Sunday and then have Monday off and then go back to school on Tuesday.

My office wasn't quite so accommodating. If I wanted a four day weekend, I was going to have to take a vacation day for Sunday.

That is until the recent announcement this week that the Prophet's birthday will actually be celebrated on SATURDAY. No such thing as moving a holiday that falls on a weekend to the closest workday. Nope. If it falls on a Saturday, then you are SOL. No holiday for you.

So, I should have started my post by saying, "Monday was supposed to be a holiday." I was looking forward to a lazy Monday - even if it was kind of weird to have a day off right in the middle of the week.

I continue to be baffled about how holidays come and go around here.

On a Lighter Note

Here's Lyra performing "Funny Faces" for you.

Mom Kills Baby

I was watching Oprah last night. I was kind of enjoying the irony of being in Saudi - but watching Oprah. I rarely have time to catch Oprah, well especially since we don't own a TV.

The episode was one that was probably recently aired in the US. A mother came on to tell her story about accidentally leaving her baby in the car when she went in to work. It was August and 100 degrees. She didn't normally have the responsibility to drop the kids at day care and just forgot. As a principle, it was the first day back at school. She was busy and in the rush to get to school she forgot the baby was in the car. And she didn't realize until the end of the school day what had happened. By then it was too late, the baby had died. After a few minutes I had to turn off the show.

It's any parents worst nightmare. I'm sure we can all imagine doing it. I feel no sense of judgement about what happened It's very very sad. But why is she on Oprah telling everyone about this? Hopefully it is cathartic and helps her deal with what must be unimagineable thoughts of "what if". Maybe I can see that she wanted a chance to tell the world what happened so that she can somehow alleviate her guilt.

But why does Oprah have this on her show - other than for the thrill factor of watching someone else's grief? She tried to sell it as a public service. Pay attention! Don't be so busy! Slow down and appreciate your life. All good messages - yes! But I don't really get that this woman's situation was a call to heed this good advice. It struck me that these messages were just an excuse to have her on and get the ratings.

And now I can't get her out of my mind. I hate the side-show effect that daytime television goes for. I've never been able to watch it. Jerry Springer would literally make my hands sweat. And my stomach continues to flip thinking about the moment this poor mother realized what had happened. I can't stop thinking about her.

This is why I don't watch TV. It gets in my head and I can't shut it off.