I want a vacation

Up until a few years ago, a group of friends and I made regular spring trips to New York. Not all together, but usually overlapping so we could get together for drinks or dinner or lunch or coffee. Some of us ran (walked, in my case, with an occasional spurt of jogging) in the More Magazine half-marathon in Central Park. One spring the race was scheduled for a weekend in late April that ended up being coolish warm, perfect for a run, and sunny, perfect for the baby green leaves on trees and the tulips and the daffodils. It was absolutely gorgeous.

We haven't made this spring trip in a few years, but I have a door-hanger from Anthropologie to remind me of the fun a weekend in the big city can be: "I'm in New York. Come back later."

I have been wanting a "me" vacation for a while, and New York seems like as good a place as any. I would love to just wander, poke in and out of shops and museums, stop for coffee, wander through Central Park, visit the Union Square farmers market and explore the parts of the city that I don't know.

In my 30s, I interviewed with The Wall Street Journal and had a pretty good shot at a job there. Carl didn't want to live in New York and I've always regretted I didn't push harder for us to try it. We were young enough then and probably could have gotten over the cost of living shock. Now, not so much.

Anyway, teeny weeny spring vacation: Walking the dogs tonight, we wandered along a street with no sidewalks. Lilacs in full flowers hung over part of the asphalt. Twist of course found something underneath to investigate while Holli waited patiently. I waited, too, and stuck my nose deep into some of those lovely blooms, breathing in their perfume.

Lilacs, a cool spring evening, me, and the greyhounds. Pretty short vacation, but it'll do for now.

Nanny States

I have been reading about the turmoil in Tehran and throughout Iran following the recent election in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. I have also seen the video of the young woman shot by the paramilitaries in Tehran.

Tehran is supposed to be a beautiful city. And Iran, a complicated place in Asia. Muslim, but not Arab. I would love to visit someday.

I don't know anyone from Iran. In fact, I have no aquaintances whatsoever in Iran, Iraq and/or all points in that direction.

I admire the idea behind the protests. What is the point of an election if the results are not fair, transparent and public? What is the point of an election with hanging chads?

Tough to be an American and criticize the results when our own recent history is not so stellar.

Yet

As one single American, I wish for a peaceful and just resolution to the turmoil in Iran.

Turning guns and batons on your own people is wrong, and, if you take it to its logical conclusion, quite stupid. That goes for North Korea, Zimbabwe, Myanmar and others.

Don't kill your citizens. Let them speak. If you cannot do that, your silence speaks volumes.