Lovely Lively London

Parliament with Big Ben at back

Big Ben on Parliament Rosie, Jon,  Martha

Wow Where do you begin telling about the charming merry ole England.  I have been fascinated with England since a child and now to be able to visit.  It was our favorite place to visit even though we were endeared to the Dutch people.  We traveled by subway, train, bicycle taxi & plane.  Rosie and I rode the train from the airport  making 2 changes to our hotel for $6 (4 Lbs.) while Taxi would have cost $150 !  You need not own a car with such excellent & constant transportation.  With a map and since this foreign country is english it is no problem to get anywhere.

Her Majesty's Theater

Big Ben

Westminister Abby 

I hadn’t seen Martha Hales Ball (1st cousin) in years but I don’t think she has changed a bit since we were kids.  Cousin Jon Hales (my mother’s sister is my Aunt Eleanor Peterson Hales) I saw last at mother’s 90th BD.  We had a delightful time with them.  Since Martha had already bought tickets to see “Thriller Live” a Michael Jackson tribute and we had no specific plans we went with them.  Man it was so easy getting tickets.  As we arrived at the theater district we saw that the Phantom of the Opera was playing and had our heart set on that for the next night.  Imagine being able to see the “Phantom” at Her Majesty’s Theater in London.  We felt like classy jetsetters among royalty or at least arrogant country bumpkins for first time in the city night lights.  At first we could not get into the swing of Michael Jackson until late in concert until they began playing the crowd.  These master performers finally got the bumpkins jiving with the crowd leaving us with pleasant memories of the show.  The “Phantom” was phenomenal even though it seemed to end with a different twist.  The stagecraft was 2nd to none....fabulous.  I was constantly commenting “how did they pull that off”...... the phantom would disappear in thin air and reappear on a different part of the stage instantly, candlesticks were coming up out of the floor, boat scene like magic.  The phantom and Christine didn’t hold a candle to Sarah Brightman and ???.  This Christine was played by the understudy.  Even so what a delightful treat.  I am so glad we did it for the memory now I want to see it on Broadway in NYC.  This trip is a bit difficult to talk about without bragging....we can tell no one about it down here because it has caused us both trouble in our work.  People can be so petty, envious and jealous.  Even in my experience growing up in our Ellsworth Thanksgiving dinners there were those that delighted in hearing about the trips but others were offended by the arrogant attitudes.  Well this trip is really something to brag about but I hope you kids will only be glad that your old Dad had a grand time with Rosie in Europe.

Oh but the simple pleasures of life are difficult to convey their true sensations.  The one thing I was going to do for sure was indulging in some Apple Strudels or similar treats. And wow wee did we ever bask in some delectable goodies.  Imagine a sweet crumbly ‘all down the front’ pastry filled with delicious apples that make your eyes rolled back into your head as you imagine if heaven could offer simple pleasures more invigorating.  The pastry was large enough to satisfy the eye but so flakey it wasn’t too filling with too much sweet to the point of saturation but left me wanting several more.  Wow what simple pleasure this life can offer!

Train up to Cambridge near Duxford Air Base

London Bridge in London

Orig. London Bridge in Arizona

The Incredible Monarch Winter Visitor

The Incredible Monarch Winter Visitor

The curiosities of nature are a marvelous in both simplicity and its unimaginable complexity.  Imagine a butterfly that goes through 4 generations in one year where 3 live only one month but the Methuselah generation lives 8 months and this butterfly flies 3000 miles in the fall from USA & Canada to the central mountains of Mexico to become a famous Winter Visitor.  It’s a type of hibernation I suppose.  They hang out in a particular pine tree waiting for Spring.  On days when the sun is shining they will fly by the billions.  The day we were there is was cold and they would only just begin to fly until the sun would go behind a cloud.  The male will carry the female upside down belly to belly flying endlessly wearing himself out during mating season (March).  She mates with several to ensure she is fully prepared for the return 3000 miles to lay the eggs.  Just imagine the buff Mr. Monarch says “ Wow, she is Drop Dead gorgeous”. Well that is exactly what happens to him after one passionate flying encounter with her!!  This She is identical to all other 100 billion butterfly babes.  After the fatal tryst with her partner she is ready to return to the Milk Weed of southern USA to lay her eggs.  The flight appears to take several several months in the fall and again in the spring.  Milk weed was common in Safford but not in Yuma.  There are many species of milk weed (they have a seed pod filled with cottony fiber which carries the seed in the wind.  The sap is a milky latex and toxic to cattle.  The butterfly concentrates the toxin in her skin and makes her unpalatable to most all would be predators.  It took many decades for scientists in Canada & USA who studied the monarch butterfly to find where they went when they flew south.  The area in Mexico where they hibernate is only 50 acres yet the entire Eastern US and southern Canada provides the habitat for reproduction of the 4 generations.  So it is this concentration of butterflies that is an absolute marvel.

PS  We took 4 taxis and 2 buses to go the 5 hours from Puebla to the Monarch Biosphere.