More of the orchids

The orchids, hanging out with the other plants.

Which looks like this:



from the inside. A rest (no running or walking) day.

And speaking of running, I'm posting weekly running updates at RunWendeeRun. I'm up to 40.9 miles for the year. 600 in 2012!

Orchids!

Remember the plants I got from one of my students? The money tree which met such a terrible end? (I'll give you some time to click back to the links and get in a good guffaw).

Did I really only mention just the money tree? I guess so. I mean, heck, it was quite the story, huh? Well, I received two other plants at the same time, and they're still doing well.

Knock on wood.

One of the plants had long arching leaves and I picked it because it seemed like it would fit in well with other plants. David said it was an orchid, that was blooming when they bought it, but it hadn't blossomed since. We've watered it and weeded, fussed over it, wondering if it was happy, and if it was, in fact, an orchid. The plant sent up buds for blooms in December (or maybe November). The flower buds survived the windstorm that hit but stayed tight for such a long time that I'd worried that maybe the flowers wrapped inside had died and just wouldn't show.

When we got home from Hawaii, we discovered, just in time for the new year, these pretty blooms just starting to open:





Worth the wait! :)

Who doesn't love a good parade?!

Every year, after the end of The Rose Parade, the floats are parked on Sierra Madre and Washington Blvds at the end of the route for viewing for another day or two. This is something we do, every year, if we can (if we're in town). What I love about this is that you can get up close to the floats to see the details –  what flowers the builders selected and all the intricate work involved. You can meander past the floats at a much slower pace as well, compared to the floats driving by you if you were there, live, at the parade. What I always forget about the float viewing is that you can actually smell all the flowers, as well –  –  always a lovely surprise for me.

Here are some photos from this year:




Not a cloud in the sky on January 3rd, sunny and almost 90 degrees F. This is exactly why I love living in Southern California. Tank top, shorts and plenty of sunscreen lotion.


Aren't all the flowers just gorgeous?

 
More detail of the ladybug, below. What care the float-builders took in laying out patterns of seeds, like in the ladybug's spots. Whew!



The pink line = the Rose Parade float driver navigation line.


The drivers hidden deep inside the finished floats can't really look out to navigate their way. This pink line is painted along the parade route (yes, down the middle of the road), as I understand, so the drivers and their floats will stay on course.

This is part of the line at the end of the route, where the floats are parked for public viewing.

Hawaii, up and around

You know how they call them 'red-eye' flights? Yeah, well, so much for just the 'red-eye' part. It took us a good 36 hours to recover from the sleep-deprived fog that followed our red-eye flight from Honolulu to LAX.


Kicking back, waiting for our 11pm flight.

We've finished doing laundry, restocked our fridge, reacquainting ourselves with English/European soccer (football) standings, are getting in a huge fix of football (U.S. variety) bowl games, and are checking, editing and uploading photos. Here are some of the 'up and around' snapshots:

Lots of opportunities for great photos at my parents' place.



And orchids, from my aunt/uncle's place, next door.





I joined the 'From Where I Stand' group on Flickr a few months back, in case you're wondering about all the photos with me and my hiking sandals/feet.


At the North Shore, checking out what I think are really small opihi

and cooling off our toes. Like my hiking tan lines?



After driving further north around the island, chips and margaritas at Cholos in Haleiwa, Oahu. Nom!


During our stay, I managed to get in a couple good runs, plus a few walks, for about 17 miles total. Since we normally walk – but NEVER run – I consider this to be quite the accomplishment. I went for runs right out the front door, which pretty much left my parents speechless. Seriously. They were thinking, “Who knew?!”.

Kahalu'u fishpond, from my last run there.