My Heart Has Left for San Francisco

I took Ali to the airport a little while ago; he’s on the 7:15 flight to San Francisco. The sky was overcast and gray, but then we saw a ghostly half-rainbow. No sun, just the rainbow. Looked like it was being projected against the clouds.
It’s been a year since Katrina hit New Orleans and reduced the Crescent City to a smear on the coast. But the Bush Administration is still doing a heckuva job there. Harry Shearer's been keeping track every week on Le Show.
UoA’s on mid-term break and the weather’s been great, so I’ve been playing hooky. Tuesday we tried to go snorkelling at Goat Island. My wetsuit’s thick enough to get me through a Chicago winter, so I waded in up to my chest and was fine. Then plunged my face in the water and – Omigoditsfreezing! My jaw muscles cramped all the way up to my ears.
The big news here this week: Olaf Wiig – the Fox cameraman kidnapped in Gaza – was finally released. My favorite quote:

"They were accusing both of us of being Americans and I stood up and said, 'Dude, I'm not American, I'm a New Zealander.'" When his captors looked puzzled Wigg drew the map and said: "This tiny country at the bottom with no ties to anything, that's New Zealand and we're a different sort of people altogether."

It was such a nice day that we warmed up again in no time and went exploring. The beach turns rocky after a little while, but if you keep going there’s a perfect little patch of pink sand. Gazillions of broken seashells, rubbed into soft little pebbles. It’s at the base of some pretty steep hills where a couple of sheep were grazing. There was also a trickle of waterfall; above it in the distance we could see where it started in the hills above. (I don’t think this comes through in the picture though – a shame, it was lovely.)
There was yet another shocking story in the NYT this week: the Feds are blocking a father and son from returning to California; they won’t be allowed to return home until they agree to be interrogated by the FBI. (It appears they’re also being denied their right to counsel.) The men are related to someone who’s been convicted of supporting terrorists by attending a training camp in Pakistan. They’re also American citizens, and there aren’t any charges against them. but that doesn't seem to count for much anymore.
After my last class on Friday, when mid-term break began, we went to Piha. There was just enough time for a little hike before sunset. We took a trail up a cliff, then found a little patch of sand that was nearly cut off from the ocean. Except for a hole in the cliff. The sound of the surf echoing against the walls was totally cool.

I’ve had trouble focusing all day, but I’ll be ok tomorrow. It's only 4 months 'til Christmas. Not long at all.


Air NZ’s website says the SF flight left at 7:32.


Cheers,
Sandie