The Rainbow Connection

Sometimes, you just gotta make your own rainbows.

I knew the minute I saw these wine glasses that I would have to own them. As usual, I didn't NEED them, I just had to have them.

Yeah, I've been in the doldrums, a LOT, these past few weeks. But I've also had some fairly sky "highs" this month, too. For example, I collaborated on an extremely successful journalism briefing last Friday, on agricultural research and child nutrition, that completely obliterated the painful memories of the first god-awful workshop in Kilifi. I attended the 4th Annual Nairobi Wine Festival the next evening, and not only won a bottle of really good wine, but my photo appeared on the Society Page of one of the local newspapers!! It's the first time I've "Scored"" on the social scene in 3 years of living in Nairobi, and it was actually kinda cool.

And these days, I am the Empress of Schmooze, trying to raise the profile of the Kenyan Alliance of Health and Science Reporters project. My motto is, "Have Heels, Will Travel." In fact, my corns are talking to me at this very moment, since I recklessly chose to wear my spiky pumps to a Friday meeting with a big deal Pharma company that wants to support research training. Oh, I KNOW I was smokin' hot, but I've spent most of the weekend crippled.

I guess the brightest spot so far was the dinner party I gave a few evenings ago. I swear, B. Smith ain't got NUTHIN' on R. Jones. When I'm in the Gourmet Zone, no nose is safe from my aromatic tentacles. Granted, this time around, my marinated snapper didn't quite turn out as perfectly as the first time I made it, and the black eyed peas with half green mangoes were a bit al dente because I didn't soak them overnight, but my seven guests RAVED over everything. Even my Afro American version of sukuma wiki......

.....and ESPECIALLY my sweet potato bread pudding, which I think could usher in world peace in the proper setting.

So, as I draped the table in one of my colorful Kenyan khanga cloths, and carefully arranged my rainbow stemmed wine glasses, I realized that this is just the way it's gonna be from here on out. The hurdles will get higher, the losses deeper, the waist thicker, and the hair grayer, and so on and so forth, but as long as you can still make your own rainbows every now and then, this life still beats the alternative by a country mile.