Greets from the USA where we're just about to wrap up a lovely visit with Mark's side of the family. All the kidren are playful and rambunctious and growing up too fast. With twelve people staying at my parents' house it was like My Big Fat Greek Family. We saw manatees and dolphins in the canal that runs behind their back yard. I took some photos and movies which I will post later.

Our big joke this trip is to say "Oh yeah" whenever we see something that we used to see all the time but had completely forgotten about. Sales tax -- "Oh yeah". Texas Pete's Hot Sauce -- "Oh yeah". Towel dispensers where you have to pull the lever down a foot to dispense three inches of paper towel -- "Oh yeah". Supercuts, Panera Bread Company, Lance crackers -- "Oh yeah".

The US seems stranger to me in general than on previous return visits. The things that strike me the most strange are pennies (Why? Get rid of them already) and toilets (they give you a veritable lake to pee into in the US; seems like a waste).