Photo of the Day - Lychees

When I was growing up in landlocked Kansas, the only time I saw lychee "nuts" was the canned variety, rarely at home or in a Chinese restaurant. By that time, their prickly reddish rind had been peeled off and the small seed removed leaving only the white fleshy fruit in the canning syrup. I had no idea why anyone would call them "nuts" or what they looked or tasted like when fresh.

When I was in China, I saw fresh lychees for sale in the Guilin area . . . on the baskets of street vendors on bicycles, on carts, in markets. It was a treat to peel them and eat them fresh. I still found it odd that they are called nuts and not fruit, since we can't eat the slightly poisonous nut. After all, we don't eat peach pits but we don't call peaches "peach nuts."

I had a similar experience in Japan. I grew up only knowing mandarin oranges as the canned product, but in Japan, I went "mikagari," or mandarin orange picking. How wonderful, fragrant and tasty the fresh ones were!

The Horse Race

It was greatly satisfying to hear Brian Williams read email from viewers disgusted with the media coverage of the election, nailing them for treating it like a sports event and reporting only polls, campaign strategy and commentary like calling Hillary Clinton's passionate and emotional reaction a "near breakdown" (hardly!), and asking where the real reporting on the issues, candidates stands on them, and plans is.

The media got their comeuppance in the new Hampshire primary. Kudos to the people of New Hampshire for not allowing media polls to tell them how to vote! Whether you're for Hillary or against her, you should applaud and welcome this scenario in which all the pollsters and pundits will be forced to reevaluate. NO ONE should be "anointed" as the nominee this early in the process. Let the voters have their say without being told their candidate is already out of the running or bound to win. Make them rethink polling that fails to take into account that people change their minds, that events can change minds, and that candidates continue to evolve. Do not let them hijack the process!

While we're at it, let's remember this campaign as something special in the history of American politics, where a woman, an African American and a Hispanic all ran as serious and creditable candidates for the presidency of our nation, and realize that among the voters, there may be more pulling us together than pulling us apart. Let's hope the policitians get it.

Let's hope whoever wins the nonimations will be up to the job and truly understand the important problems facing our nation and the world.