The end

The last day of the year and I am left wondering if there anything I need to leave behind in 2007 to move forward? The past five years I've marked the first day of the new year with a collage of what I envision for the 12 coming months. Its a fun art project and I've always been a visual person so it helps me focus on my goals and what I imagine for the future. The last few years Hugh and Rachel joined in and made their collages too. Tomorrow we will have a few friends over for a collage making party and lunch. Tonight many argentines will ring in the new year at an all night party or by lighting fireworks that sound like machine guns (like they did on Christmas Eve). I am not in the mood for a rave and then a two hour walk in search of transportation home so we are going to a nice dinner with friends Brad and Laura at a parilla down the street, then coming home to cuddle with Utta and reassure her as the noises progress, that the world is not going to end.

Summer arrived with a blast of scorching days and nights. The thermometer climbed to 100 each day and never moved lower than 80 at night. The air is thick and tropical - Hugh keeps saying its "texas heat". we run the air conditioner non stop all day and night. utta has taken to sleeping off and on from noon till 6 or so. The government of Argentina last week decided (after 20 years of not observing daylight savings) to turn the clocks forward an hour to help conserve energy during the summer months. 6 hours now separates me from my Skype partners in California. The days are a bit shorter but the heat is unrelenting and will undoubtedly take some getting used to. Yesterday I came down with a scratch in my throat and today I have been coughing all day. Its the sort of thing that most locals attribute to the rapid change in weather. One day cool and breezy, the next, humid and unimaginably hot. I went shopping yesterday at the Palermo Mall - to get out of the heat and update my summer wardrobe. Actually, I realized I have no summer wardrobe. Nothing in my clothing arsenal to ward off the rays. So, I battled the hoards at Zara (Argentina's H&M) for a few pairs of shorts and tanks, and found a perfect light cotton long strappy dress at Paula D'Anvers that I bought in sky blue and salmon. When I tried it on, Hugh asked if it was a night gown. Two pairs of flip flops and now I'm set.