The rocky cliffs of Vava'u continue plunging below the ocean's surface, and they are covered with profusions of coral more diverse and abundant than any other I've seen.
But a Starbucks on Main Avenue would violate a largely unrecognized maxim that all suburban downtowns are divided into two groups: those with a profusion of expensive coffee places, and those with a profusion of expensive nail salons.
Mrs. Carlson's A.P. class in Worcester, Mass., now confronts a book with 56 chapters and 1,400 pages, along with a profusion of animated videos and Web-based aids that supplement the text.
Along with fresh produce, Connecticut farmers are ready for spring with a profusion of cut flowers.
Reggio classrooms are packed with a profusion of innovative materials for the children to work with, such as pebbles, dried orange peel, driftwood, tangles of wire and tin cans.
There are easily learned landmarks -- the Duomo; the Arno River; the Ponte Vecchio, with its profusion of gold jewelry shops; the Piazza della Signoria, with its copy of Michelangelo's "David"; the fortresslike Palazzo Pitti -- to keep you from getting lost.
Built in the 1920s with natural cedar logs with bark cut directly from local woods, it was decorated with a profusion of intricate twigs and branches.
It was 135 feet in diameter at the base and 100 feet high, with an elaborate interior of vaulted rooms, richly decorated throughout with a profusion of gilt, carved statuary, and arched doorways.
And given America now, with its profusion of racial, ethnic and religious mixes and its perpetual obsession with status and reinventing oneself, her writing is anything but retrograde.
