We went to the Metro at 10 AM this morning. There was a live band performing on the steps in front of the store, so both the incoming and outgoing traffic squeezed through the same door. We inched through crowds of people and up the escalator past clerks in Santa outfits and an enhanced selection of Christmas decorations.

Loud speakers blared announcements of special sale prices from 7 AM to 12 PM today only, and urged people to take advantage of the “craziest sale of the year.” We looked both upstairs and downstairs to find a sympathy card, then went to the Giasano Grand Mall. After getting four sales clerks to help us, we found some blank notecards with envelopes. It was almost what we were looking for.

Whew! And we thought we would avoid Black Friday if we were half the world away from home!

Oh well, at least you can enjoy the pictures of the magic mango tree.