Warm and wet

The "atmospheric river" is streaming right at us today, dumping loads of moisture brought all the way up from Hawaii.  We call it the Pineapple Express, and it happens once or twice a year in the Northwest.  The air is humid, misty and heavy.  Everything feels saturated. Needless to say, the plants love this warm bath and you can almost see the spring growth take off like a rocket.  Hopefully there will be hyacinths blooming when the Easter Bunny drops by. 

Not much else to report this morning.  The country seems to be pleasantly distracted by the archaic drama of white or black smoke coming from the Vatican. And a bunch of old gentlemen in funny clothing making big decisions.  Some things never seem to change.

We saw the Pope once at St. Peters in Rome, I don't remember which one exactly-- I could look it up. It must have been 1978 or so because Baby Amanda was in a backpack and a Cardinal (or someone splendidly dressed in red) gave her a pat on the head as he walked by.  Like all parents it made us feel special to be singled out by such an important personage.

Actually, we only saw the top of the Pope's pointy hat through the crowd. I was distracted watching the people around us. I'll never forget the screaming (Papa! Papa!) and the women climbing up on their men to get a view.  From that day on, I understood the meaning of the phrase "electrified crowd."