Congratulations to Sarah Elizabeth Cawood!

Tonight was Sarah's night. She was valedictorian of her graduating class from Dixie High School in Due West, SC. This was a very small class, only 53 seniors, so the ceremony was wonderfully brief. It started promptly at 7, and after processional, speeches, awarding of diplomas, some singing, and the recessional; then some standing around outside taking pictures; we were in our car at 7:51!

It was so great to see Sarah's older siblings from San Diego and Charleston. And Matt even showed up. He's working as an intern for Milliken in Greenville, SC, so he's only about an hour away. Sarah's other grandparents came, and one of Paul's girlfriends joined us. Sue and Randy treated us to a very good dinner at Red Lobster.

Today's picture is one of John's from the Mountain Ute Tribal Park in Colorado. Family pictures will start tomorrow.

Shame on them!

Another day hovering around 90 with not a hint of rain. Swimming and Studio2 this morning. None of Vicki's students came in today, but sometimes it's like that in the summertime.

We'll be heading off to South Carolina in the morning for Sarah's graduation from Dixie High School in Due West. She's the youngest grandchild, and this will be the last one to finish high school.

I cannot let one of today's news items go without comment. It was reported that Vice President and Mrs. Cheney welcomed a new grandson today. The reporter went on to say that the proud parents were Mary Cheney and her long-time partner, Heather Poe. What a wonderful day for the parents! Yet the new baby's birth state of Virginia refuses to allow Samuel David Cheney the stability of parents with the legal standing and rights of other parents, not even allowing Ms. Poe to adopt him. I wonder how the hypocritical grandparents will be able justify this relegation of Samuel's mother to second-class status. I do not question the grandparents love of their daughter and their new grandson. But I can say Shame on them!

Today's picture is a photograph of one of my watercolors.

It's the weather!

The big story around here, as it is in many parts of the country, is weather, weather, weather. More hot and dry. As the weatherfolks say, it's like an August forecast in its monotony, except for the humidity. If it were humid, we might actually get some late afternoon thundershowers. But now, it's just dry! We're even starting to get some of the smoke blowing in from the huge fires on the Georgia/Florida state line.

The newly-married Vicki was back in the Studio this morning. They had a great weekend in Atlanta - ate in some good restaurants, went to some museums, and visited lots of galleries.

Today was another routine day, but at least there was some good stuff on television tonight. There was a new NCIS - the season finale, and a cliff-hanger, of course. Then there was a TV movie based on Robert B. Parker's character, Jesse Stone. This is a good character, and well played by Tom Selleck. It's good to see him get a good role, playing an older, flawed, craggy guy.

Not too much longer until The Beach! Four weeks from Saturday. We're all ready!

Today's picture is a rock formation at Kelly Place, CO.

Monday Wake-up

It felt good to get into the pool this morning. Amazingly, after that marathon nap yesterday, I slept all night. So the pool and the workout helped to shake the cobwebs out.

Bridge was this afternoon - with five full tables. We both had some reasonable cards today. I don't think either of us got into the top four, but we at least had a good time. We finally got our friend Hunter to come to bridge. And he probably came in first - he never got bumped away from the first table. I hope he had a good time and will come back.

By the end of this weekend, we'll have seen all six of our grandkids, daughters, and sons-in-law. That's always a treat - especially since they're now spread out from South Carolina to California. And all visits were at their houses, with their good cooking or restaurants. Great planning!

Today's picture is a frostbitten apple blossom at Kelly Place, CO.

The Great Sloth

Today must have been one of the Great Sloth Days. Or at least a day of recuperation. Neither one of us did squat! I "talked" to Jean and then came in to take a short nap. Well, I woke up from that "short nap" FOUR hours later. John said I was snoring, too, so I guess that's why he didn't check to see if I was still breathing.

I did unpack the two boxes of new pottery from Jean. She has some gorgeous new stuff. It's going to be fun showing it off. I'll try to get some photos.

The weather forecast is showing that we're going to have a hot and dry week, temperatures in the high 80s and no rain in sight.

Today's photo was taken by John along the San Juan Skyway in Colorado.

Beginnings

Correction first. John tells me that it was Kate who had the idea about the rock/paper/scissors elimination. I like to give credit where it's due.

We didn't see Andy this morning after all. Project Graduation was over at 5 a.m., but he had completely crashed by the time we got there. Not a huge surprise. Kate fixed us a great breakfast, bacon and eggs and cholesterol. We stopped for gas at the Flying J on the way home. Yesterday, gas was $2.98/gal; this morning it was $3.09/gal. Don't you hate being manipulated?!?!?! We're coming up on a holiday weekend - let's soak the travelers.

When we were coming into Chattanooga about 1 p.m., cars were backed up onto US 27 trying to get into the downtown area. It took a minute to figure out, but then we remembered. In its infinite wisdom, the Hamilton County School Board decided to hold all but two of the high school graduations on the same day (today). The ceremonies were held at 3-hour intervals at three downtown locations. It doesn't take a degree in traffic management to see that this makes for a totally impossible parking situation. I surely was glad that we didn't have someone graduating today. What a mess!

Today was a lovely day, cool with low humidity and a slight breeze - a perfect day for an outdoor wedding and reception. And it was just that for Vicki and Roger. And two happier people I don't think I've ever seen. How wonderful that they found each other and realized how totally they completed each other's life. Congratulations and dearest wishes for a long, happy life together.

Today's pictures are of Andy and his proud parents, Kate and Wayne; and the newlyweds, Roger and Vicki.

Congratulations to Andrew Warner Fuller!

Just a quick note tonight. We drove to Madisonville, KY, this morning. Tonight was Andy's high school commencement. Jean came up, too.

Wayne fixed us a delicious dinner, and then we headed to the high school gym. Of course, we were way early, but we did get good parking places and good seats. (Is that a "Zelle thing" or what!!!)

The ceremony started only a little bit late, but it was almost three!!! hours long. There were 3 salutatorians and 14! valedictorians, and each one made a 2-minute speech. Then the 351 diplomas were awarded. It was long and tedious, of course, but so exciting for these youngsters, ending one phase of their lives and starting out almost as babies again. What a wonderful rite of passage.

John and Jean did come up with a solution for the multiple valedictorians. They decided there should be a double-elimination tournament of rock/paper/scissors, and only the ultimate winner would get to give a valedictory address. I like it!

The photo today is of one of the more than 100 dikes that radiate out from the Spanish Peaks near Cuchara, CO. I'll have a picture of Andy tomorrow.

Newspapers

We are so fortunate here in Chattanooga. The editorial cartoonist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press is Bruce Plante, and he is great. This is a link to today's cartoon ( 5-17-2007). http://cagle.msnbc.com/politicalcartoons/PCcartoons/plante.asp It sort of sums it all up for me.

Chattanooga used to have two papers - a liberal morning paper and a conservative evening paper. The morning paper, the Chattanooga Times, was started by Adolph Ochs, who later started another little paper that gained some renown - the New York Times. The evening paper, the Chattanooga News Free Press, which had started life as a free shopper. Some years ago, the owner of the News Free Press bought the Times from the Ochs family and combined the two papers into one morning paper - the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

They decided to keep two different editorial staffs and pages - so every day, there are two editorial pages. The liberal page is on the left-hand page, and, of course, the conservative page is on the right. It really makes for interesting reading sometimes. Of course, Mr. Plante is on the left page. Even when we're out of town, we check on line to keep caught up with his work.

I had a great time today. Vicki had asked me to stay at the Studio today so she get last-minute chores done for her wedding on Saturday. There are no classes on Thursday, so I was able to do some stuff for myself. I did a little work on a watercolor. But mostly I straightened my painting "starts", clean paper, collage pieces, etc. Dan had cut me a bunch of odd mats, using the drop-out pieces from the custom-made mats. I wound up spending several hours making small odd-shaped works, either collage or cut-out pieces of "starts". Some of mat 'holes" were maybe 1 x 8" or 2 x 10". I think they turned out really well, and I'm very pleased with the small pieces.

We'll head out midmorning, after swimming and rowing, to go to KY for Andy's graduation tomorrow night.

Today's photograph is one of John's - an unusual cloud formation over Sleeping Ute Mountain from Kelly Place, Cortez, CO.

Glasses

I picked up my new glasses this afternoon and, as part of the appointment, had my eyes dilated for additional tests. Yuck! Don't we all hate that! I was planning to prepare a pasta from a mix for dinner, and dear, sweet John fixed it. He never cooks (other than his lunch or on the grill outside), so that was especially nice. A very tasty meal.

I've got to learn more things about blogging. I'm curious to see how many people look at my blog, so I need to find out how to put a counter on the page. I noticed that other blogs I read have links to other blogs and to favorite web sites. I'd like to do that, too. So now I need to spend some time figuring out how to do that. I'm keeping Studio 2 for Vicki tomorrow. I need to be doing some painting while I'm there. But I think I'll take my laptop with me and see if I can get on line with her wireless and see what I can learn.

Today's picture is train tracks along the North Fork of the Rio Grande River south of Creede, CO.

We get to sleep a little bit later on Tuesdays. That's nice. John left to go walk on the Riverwalk, and I went to Studio 2 to help Vicki with her Tuesday watercolor class.

We had a phone message from Dwight (who is sort-of in charge of the Monday bridge group), telling me that I came in 6th (out of 21) players yesterday. He wanted to let me know, because I had been 19th of 20 the week before. How sweet of him to call! But then he had to ruin it all by telling me that John had come in 5th.

We're taking most of Jean's pottery back to her this weekend, except for a few pieces we're saving for wedding presents. The pieces have been spread out all over the deck, gathering dust and pollen. Since we're taking it on Friday, it was time for me to get it packed up. I got it all into two boxes, but the pollen and left-over dust and leaf mold from the frostbitten fallen leaves about did me in. It surely did take a long time to quit coughing. Such is springtime in Tennessee.

John mowed the yard, since it's supposed to rain tomorrow. Hope springs eternal. Would that we would get a bunch of rain.

Today's picture is of some of Jean's pottery.

Quieter Monday

We did have a busy weekend, so getting back to a "normal" Monday felt pretty good. Swimming and coffee always starts the day off well.

John had his first post-radiation appointment with the urologist. To his surprise, it only involved a urinalysis, and a return appointment in 8 months (can you believe that's January 2008?). He is doing well, and is almost back to what he laughingly calls normal.

A friend has had a recurrence of breast cancer, and is going to Atlanta tomorrow to see about getting into a new protocol for her situation. I had made her an soft, snuggly afghan and wanted her to have it to take with her, so we took it over to her this morning. She has a wonderful attitude and her usual great smile. We've all got our fingers crossed for her and are holding her close.

Cards were better today at bridge. As bad as they were last week, I didn't even come in last - I was next-to-last. Out of 20 players. We had five tables again today, and I probably came in in the middle - but that's surely better than before. One round, the lovely lady to my left was the declarer, and had an 8-card club suit. I was SO impressed - and said, I NEVER get an 8-card suit, and don't know what I'd do with one. Well, the VERY next hand, I had EIGHT clubs - to the 10!!!! And that was the high card in the hand. I just laughed and laughed. No wonder we keep playing this silly game.

Today's picture is of Matt and Amanda, taken about a year ago.

Happy Mother's Day

The present I gave myself for Mother's Day was unusual. I fixed waffles for breakfast this morning. When I sat down and started to pour the heated syrup on my waffle, the top of the pitcher came off, and hot syrup went all over me, the table, and the floor. Well, yuck! At least John and Margaret were there to clean up the table and floor while I cleaned up myself and changed clothes. The day did get better after that.

Today was the day Paul graduated from The College of Charleston. We didn't go because each graduate gets only three tickets. We planned to watch a webcast at home. It was supposed to start at 2:30, but was delayed because of a strong storm that came through. The ceremony finally started about 4:15, and we saw Paul walk across the stage about 2 1/2 hours later. There were several showers during the procession of graduates. The ceremony ended about 7:30. We're bad - we left the webcast after Paul got his degree, and had supper. (Sue called later, and she, Randy, and Sarah [who were there in person] also left after Paul walked across the stage.)

The women graduates all wear white, carrying a dozen red roses. The men wear summer tuxes (white jackets with black trousers). Those are the rules. However, these are college students - and they do tend to get creative. Many of them (male and female) were wearing flip-flops, a couple had on sneakers. I don't think there was single woman wearing hose (these are SMART women - after all think of the heat and humidity in Charleston!). Many of the dresses were strapless; a few were long; 3-4 women wore trousers; 2-3 wore tailored suits. Obviously young woman today have never tried on a dress and looked at themselves in a full-length mirror. Surely they wouldn't have worn dresses that tight if they could see themselves from behind.

Anyway, it was great fun to see all these young people. And to do it from the comfort of my La-Z-Boy chair, in the air conditioning (not in Charleston's heat and humidity). And another of our youngsters heads out into the world.

Today's picture is a fresh snowfall above Creede, CO.

An Engagement

Lots of busy stuff going on today - well, not really.

Margaret came over this morning - a nice Mother's Day present. She brought some canned goods, including the last of the 2006 tomato juice. I hope it'll last until she can get some more made this year. She also brought some just-picked-this-morning spinach, lettuce, and asparagus - and some cherry tomatoes. It's all SO good. I do love the fresh veggies.

I took her for some Chattanooga sight-seeing after lunch. We went by Studio 2 (and saw Vicki and Roger there), then around other places in the South Side. I drove her around Ferger Place - on the National Register of Historic Places. Such a neat group of older houses. We made a trip to Hobby Lobby, and then home.

We got the really big news then that Matt and Amanda are official engaged - ring and everything! Margaret says that although they're not going to graduate until December 2008, they're planning to marry in May 2008. Just about this time, Amanda's mother called Margaret, and they had a long talk about the date, place, other possible plans, etc. The wedding will be on 17 May 2008 at the country club in Johnson City, with the reception to follow there.

This will be the first wedding in that generation! And we're not surprised that it's going to be Matt and Amanda. They've been together for over two years now, and it was pretty obvious to all concerned. It'll be fun to see how it all develops. I can say this, since I'm only the grandmother of the groom, and have no part whatsoever in the planning or execution of the event - just a delighted spectator.

Today's picture is of one of the Spanish Peaks from Cuchara Road, CO. I'll try to get a picture of Matt and Amanda ASAP.

Swimming, coffee, painting - a usual Friday morning. It was hot again, but the humididty is rising. By late afternoon, we could hear thunder, and radar showed showers all around us. Nary a drop fell at this house.
We talked to the mail carrier again this afternoon. The delivery person on Wednesday didn't notice anything unusual about our mailbox when she put the mail in the box, so it must've been hit shortly after that. We probably won't ever know anything about the incident.

Today is a day for quoting others, who have said things much better than I could. First is a link to a blog, Funny The World, Bev Sykes entry for today (11 May 2007). As she says, "Where's the outrage?" http://www.funnytheworld.com/2007/May/11.htm

Next is a link to Bill Moyers' opening essay from his "Journal" this evening. The link here is to the transcript for tonight's program. I'd direct you specifically to the first section.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05112007/transcript1.html

Today's picture is one last photo from the Butterfly Garden at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Thursday = Wal-Mart. I do, I do, I DO love grocery shopping!. Yuck! Oh, well - at least I've gotten it down to once a week.

Today was another gorgeous day. John had a fantastic row. Temperature in the upper 80s, and very low humidity ( @25%). We'd kill for weather like this in July and August. As long as the a/c works, I can handle it. Yesterday, though, when I went out to see how John was doing with replacing the mailbox, the pollen and leaf mold really got me coughing and sneezing. I do wish we'd get a little bit of rain, just to settle the dust.

We asked our mail carrier if she had noticed the damage to the mailbox when she delivered the mail yesterday. She didn't work Wednesday, but is going to check with her substitute to see if she remembers anything. John says there was white paint transfer on the box. C'est la vie!

Public Radio has an on-going series called "This I Believe". These are short pieces by famous and non-famous people talking about what is important to them. Sue (whose youngest is graduating from a rural South Carolina high school) sent a link to a transcription of one of these done by a young man. It's worth reading. Here's the link. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10003803&sc=emaf

The devastation from the tornado last week in Greensburg, KS, was all-but-complete. Here is a link to a slide show that Margaret sent.
http://www.kansas.com/static/slides/050507tornadoaerials/ People lost everything, and eight people were killed. It's hard to believe that everyone in this small town wasn't killed. I understand that there was about a 20-minute warning, so the people had time to take shelter.

Today's picture is another picture from the Butterfly Garden at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Today started out with lots of the regular "routine". We had an extra-large group at swimming. It seems like lots of us have medical emergencies with family members this week. Our "swim team" is so close, that we all feel pain and concern for each other.

Studio2 time was fairly slow. Vicki had only one student, and it just wasn't a painting day for me. Vicki continues to be so wired about her upcoming wedding (gee, what a surprise!). She wants to paint, but probably won't until this is all over in 10 days. It really is fun to watch her go through this joyous time.

John went out to get the mail this afternoon, and someone had destroyed our mailbox. There was a hole punched in the door, and the post was broken. Possibly somebody backing out of the driveway across the street backed into it - but we'll never know, I guess. Neither of us noticed anything when we left or returned this morning - but at least we know it happened since midafternoon yesterday. He had to work way too hard installing the new one. We can only assume (and hope) that the vehicle has a bunch of damage. After all, taking out a 4x4" post and cross-piece has got to at least take off some paint.

Today's picture is from the Butterfly Garden at the Aquarium.

Routines

Routines are comfortable - most of the time. At least as long as we know we can escape from them from time to time.

Today was pretty much a routine Tuesday. Sleep a little bit later. Get to read the paper before I leave for the day. I'm working on an afghan, and needed to get some more yarn from Hobby Lobby. Then to Vicki's for the Tuesday watercolor class. The folks there are so great - it's such a treat to have found a home-away-from-home at Studio 2 and to have painting in my life.

I know John feels the same way about rowing. And he had a just-about-perfect morning to row this morning. We really need rain, but the warm temps and low humidity are wonderful. I know we'll wish we had something like this come July and August.

We had eye exams this afternoon. No obvious problems. I surely am glad that the herpetic eye infection has stayed quiet for such a long time. The doc was reluctant to start me on the anti-viral medicine when he did 4-5 years ago. But it surely is working for me.

We made reservations for another Riverbarge Excursion trip. This one will be in November - and starts and ends in Nashville. It goes down the Cumberland River to the Barkley Canal (just before the Ohio), then up the Tennessee River as far as Florence, AL. It returns to Nashville by the same route. These are such great trips. I love it when we find a travel company that we can recommend wholeheartedly, and want to patronize again. We feel the same way about Untours.

Today's picture was taken on Pass Creek Road, CO, after an overnight spring snowfall.

Bridge Bitch

Is that a noun or a verb? Take your pick. Today was bridge day - our first time back since before we left on our trip in early April.

We play in a group that is an "open" group, i.e., anybody who shows up gets to play. When we don't have full tables, the odd players are worked in by a standard formula. We play six rounds of approximately 30 minutes each - regular rubber scoring, with extra points awarded for left-over games or part-scores. Today, we were one player short of 5 full tables, which means that someone who is dummy at another table comes to bid the orphan hand, and then the dummy at the orphan's table, plays the orphan hand. It slows things down a bit, but it works. Based on scores and drawn cards, players are shuffled around after each round. That's the framework.

Some of the players today were the good and the great players, the ones that are fun to play with, and really nice folks. Some of the others are nice folks that you'd really rather not be at the table with. Some were the groaners - Oh, not - not so-and-so. And then there were a couple of new ones. And they were awful. Not necessarily bad players, but one talked all the time, and did things like move the dummy's cards around, when he wasn't the declarer. One lady was obviously very unsure of herself, and took forever to bid and play. She'd be the 4th bidder, and when the other three players had all bid, she was still sorting her cards - and every time said - You are all so fast. I had to play with her twice and at the table with her two other times. One guy is the one who learned to play on the computer and had never played with "real" people until the first time he played with this group about two months ago.

On top of this, the cards were terrible! In the first four rounds, I had a total of about 1100 points (including one zero). Amazingly in the fifth round, I had 1130 points, and actually had my first opening hands of the day. Then the last round ended with the opponents bidding and making a vulnerable grand slam. To add insult to injury, during the afternoon, I had TWO Yarborough hands. It was a LONG afternoon.

Will we go back? Of course - it's bound to be better next week........

Today's picture is of the Wet Mountains, across the Wet Mountain Valley, CO.

Today was a really, really quiet day. John "snuck" out without waking me about 6:30 for an early morning row. He said it was really nice. It was a gloomy grey day until midafternoon when the sun came out.

While Jean and I were instant-messaging after lunch, we realized that she had the dates wrong for our week at the beach. I hope it's early enough that she can get her vacation time changed. It's a good thing it came up in the conversation.

It's just the end to a quiet weekend.

Today's picture is another painting from my numbered series, and it will go in the bedroom after it's framed.

Painting, Photographs, and Politics

We finally got some rain overnight - about 1.25". That's great, but it doesn't do too much to help our 10" deficit for the year.

John and I went to Studio 2 to take some photographs of the paintings I've done in the last week or so. He does a much better job than I do with that. When we left there, we went to the Chattanooga Food Bank's spring plant sale. I wanted to put some herbs in the raised bed in the front yard. All I had before except one parsley had died out. I got basil, thyme, parsley, rosemary, and one plant of mountain red poppies. I hope they will all survive and spread. I do love to go out and get fresh herbs to cook with (John calls them "grass clippings").

We watched the DVD of "The Full Monty" tonight. We'd seen it before, and it's just as good and funny as it was the first time.

Now I'm watching Tim Russert interview Lee Iacocca about his new book. Iacocca really takes the current administration to task. I totally agree with him when he says that curiosity and creativity are two of the most important characteristics that a leader can have (AMEN to that!), and that our current president lacks both of them.

Today's pictures are a photograph that I took in Colorado last month. I knew it was something I would paint - I am continually drawn to that composition. Yesterday, I painted the watercolor based on that scene. It's a 10x10" watercolor.

Friday is for Art

Mostly today was a usual Friday. Swimming, coffee at Panera's, then to Vicki's for the Friday morning watercolor class. The usual students were there. Vicki had some peonies, columbine, and iris set up. The Chattanooga region of the Tennessee Watercolor Society is having an exhibit in December, with the theme being works in a square format. The square is generally considered to be a difficult shape for painters - or for art in general. Think about it, we rarely see squares - most paintings will be in horizontal or vertical rectangles, less often in circles or ovals - rarely in squares. Anyhow, I wanted to do some pieces as possible entries in the show. I did two pieces in 10" squares - one based on the peonies, and one based on a photograph I took in Colorado. I'll post photos of that later.

There were two new-work openings at galleries on Frazier Avenue - the AVA Gallery and the InTown Gallery. We decided to go to those, and have their "heavy hors d'oeurves" for dinner. The show at AVA had two artists, a photographer and a print-maker. Both were interesting, but I much preferred the prints. They were small hand-colored intaglio prints. What a lot of work is involved in those.

In-Town featured new artists, and new work by all the regular membership. There were some really great pieces in this show. We weren't looking for things to buy - just to enjoy seeing. John said he spent all his time there talking to folks rather than looking at the art (guess we'll have to go back). And the food was terrific.

My feet gave out, and we were home before dark. Chattanooga is an amazing city, for a small Southern city - incredibly welcoming and accessible for all kinds of art and artists. We do enjoy living here.

Today's photo is in LaPlata Canyon along the LaPlata River in Colorado.

Dentists and libraries

Why do people hate going to the dentist? Well, the procedures they perform do hurt sometimes. Maybe it's the "not being in control" thing. Flo Jean doesn't go to dentists - but she doesn't see very well, and really hates having anybody get close to her face. What brought this on? I got my teeth cleaned this morning. Fortunately, I inherited really good teeth, and rarely have to have anything more done than biannual cleaning. Lucky me! And I love the feel of newly cleaned teeth.





We had our usual Thursday lunch with the Blue Tick Society. It was a small group today - just John and me, Dalton Roberts, and Don Eaves. Dalton had played a gig at a local coffee house last weekend, and film of several of his songs has been put on YouTube. You might give it a look sometime. Here's the link...






http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dalton+roberts





The Chattanooga/Hamilton County Bicentennial Library and the Friends of the Library have been having public meetings at each of the branch libraries. City and County budgets have been cutting so much support from the libraries. They're trying to find ways to get more money, or to find creative ways to stretch the money that they do get. There are almost no new books being purchased. Staffs have been cut, and the libraries are closed on Sundays and Fridays. Many comments and suggestions were given - and probably they'll be working to private/public combinations of fund-raising. I know something needs to be done, and that'll probably be the ultimate solution.





But, John and I strongly believe that libraries, like schools, should be free and be totally funded by public monies (taxes). All citizens should shoulder the responsibilities for these vital functions that need to be provided by our governments. And that's my soapbox for the day.





Today's picture was taken in the mountains west of Pueblo, CO.

Here's John and me in Scotland last year. This is what he looks like without glasses or moustache.

Vicki and I both got to paint today. None of her Wednesday oil/acrylic students showed up today, so it was just the two of us. She finished one painting, and did some "renovations" on an old one. I added some acrylic to a couple of my "starts". I had thought about adding face on top of one of my darker starts, and think I may have gotten something worth saving. We'll see how I feel about it on Friday.

Another day near 90. It is supposed to be somewhat cooler the rest of the week. I poached a salmon for dinner, and it was SO good. John's especially looking forward to the chowder I make out of the leftovers.

John got an e-mail (through me and found through Zelle's World!) from another Zelle looking to see if possible they were related and might have some common relatives. It turns out they probably are. His great-grandfather may be John's great-uncle. Both families go back to Central Illinois. I think they're going to have fun investigating.

Have a great evening, folks!

It's not summer yet, but it got up to 90 degrees here. I do, I do, I DO appreciate air conditioning.

Tuesday is a watercolor day at Vicki's Studio 2. I took some iris that had bloomed in the yard, and the students had a good time painting the lovely flowers. Iris are SO satisfying - on all levels. We ran late, everybody talking and working. Judy M. reminded me that the new penguin exhibit at the Aquarium was open for members today.

John and I went downtown this afternoon, and the Aquarium was fairly crowded. We had thought this was one of the Members-Only things - but that wasn't so. Oh, well.... Certainly everybody wanted to see the new penguins. And it's amazing how many small children there are, whose parents brought them to the Aquarium today. It was very hard to get any photos of the penguins. But I enjoy getting photos of the kids looking, too. We'll go back some other time, when the "new" has worn off to try for some penguin portraits.

We went to Blue Orleans for dinner on the way home. We didn't exactly what we had planned - we got a seafood platter for two. And it was all fried. It was very good - but next time, we'll go with the red beans and rice, or the andouille gumbo.

Has anybody else watched The Mormons on PBS last night and tonight? It was interesting to learn about them, but I'm not ready to convert.

Today's picture is obviously of some of Chattanooga's newest residents - some gentoo and macaroni penguins at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Well, I don't know if I can come up with anything as exciting as yesterday. But it's close. The temperatures are predicted to get much higher than normal this week. It's 11:30, and the AC has just cut in. Guess they're serious about it.

I did manage to get in to have a long-overdue pedicure, and did the laundry. Wow! Be still my heart.

We got graduation invitations from Paul and Andy. And Sue called to check on some addresses. So I guess we'll be getting one from Sarah soon.

We got some bad news from our good friend, Deb. She's been fighting cancer for a long time, and has just found out that she has more recurrence. So she's in for another round of radiation and chemo. Help us keep her in your hearts and prayers.

We watched the first part of the PBS program on The Mormons tonight. It's an interesting story. And it was enlightening to hear explanations of the history told by present-day Mormons. The second half tomorrow night will be about the Mormon church today.

Today's picture is an old picture of John - I forgot, and am writing this on the desktop. All the current photos are in the laptop. Oops. This one was taken a couple of years ago on the Lindsays' boat in St. Pete Beach, FL. John doesn't look much like this any more. He no longer wears glasses, and he's shaved off his moustache. But he still loves being out in the sun and on the water.

Today was a really quiet day. John went and got his boat ready to row, and then walked on the Riverwalk. I managed to stay at home all day. It's going to warm up again - should be in the 80s the rest of the week. Yuck!

Stay well, friends!

Today's picture is one of John's - of the petroglyphs at the Mountain Ute Tribal Park.

Quiet weekend, so far

We both slept well last night - finally getting caught up.

John did a bunch of yard work this morning. He got up on the roof to clean up all the dead leaves and the oak strings; mowed the yard; and blew oak strings off the porch. Always exciting stuff going on around the Zelles' house.

We did watch The World's Fastest Indian tonight. It's an interesting and true story about setting a land speed record with an antique Indian motorcycle. Anthony Hopkins stars - and he's always good. We can recommend this one for an evening's entertainment.

Today's picture is from the Lowrey Pueblo, Hovenweep National Monument.

Bill Moyers is back!

Today was an almost-normal Friday. It was wonderful to get to swimming class again, and to get caught up on all the Swim Team's news. Coffee at Panera's and then to Vicki's for the Friday painting class. I didn't paint today, but things are working in my head, and I'll be getting back into it.

John got to get back on the river for the first time this season, rowing a double with Diane. It was windy, but worth it to get on the water to row.

Andy stopped by on his way to visit his girlfriend in Atlanta. We took him to eat at Logan's, and then he was quickly on the road. We learned more about his schedule and plans for starting Rose-Hulman (Terre Haute, IN) in the fall. He's excited and relieved that the decision is finally made.

It was great to have the wonderful insights of Bill Moyers back on PBS. His new weekly Journal started this evening, with a conversation with Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. Friday has now become the only night that we have something to watch all evening on TV, 2 hours of it on PBS.

Last night was one of those no-sleep nights again - I hope I can make up for that tonight. I seem to be having more trouble getting over the 2-hour time difference this trip.

Today's picture is evergreens and spring-time bare aspens along the San Juan Skyway in CO.

Back into the routine

Getting back home does require a lot of work. John went to the Rowing Center - something that always makes him happy. I went to Wal-Mart - something that I do under duress. Oh, well..... By suppertime, I had finished the four loads of wash. We went to our usual Thursday lunch, with the crazy bunch of artists and political people. We got our badly-needed haircuts. And we picked up and went through the mail. Now, I'm sort of listening to the way-too-early Democratic Candidate Debate.

I hope everybody watched the Bill Moyers Special last night on PBS. We have surely missed him since he left NOW a couple of years ago. I'm delighted that he is starting a new weekly show - Bill Moyers' Journal. We get two PBS stations - it's on Friday nights on one, and Sunday afternoons on the other.

We've gotten rain off and on today. So we really made a good decision to come on home in the sunshine yesterday.

Does anybody play games on road trips any more? Adults, that is. We got started with one on our long, boring, interstate trips to the beach. We watch for the combinations of names of towns on the exit signs, using them to name the characters in a florid/purple prose/Southern/bodice-ripper novel. And we invent a persona to go with the name. Some examples from East Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi yesterday (these are real road signs):

Thurber Mingus: the villain of our piece - what a despicable rotter he is!

Ada Taylor: the heroine, a school teacher, a town favorite

Choudrant Silbey: the parish priest, lovingly nicknamed "Papa Chou"

Tallulah Vidlia: the town slut, always suspected of running a house of ill repute

Bovina Jackson: the dear old "mammy" (remember, this is the South); nobody could raise a child better, or make better biscuits and fried chicken

Flora Edwards: the church secretary

Morton Puckett: the fly-by-night preacher who seduced dear Flora

Chunky Meridian: the town bully, haunted forever by his grade-school nickname

Share some with us that you come up with as you travel.

Today picture is some of the amazing stone construction from the Lowrey Pueblo, part of the Hovenweep National Monument in CO.

Addendum

I forgot to mention that the title of the painting is Origins.

I've been told that people have tried to leave comments in the blog and had problems. I'll see if I can find out what the problem is, but in the meantime, to contact me, e-mail me at maryzelle4@gmail.com .

I think I've changed the setting to allow comments - and would love to hear from any and all.

Home again!

Greetings from Chattanooga!

It rained and thundered during the night in Shreveport. We left this morning in the rain, expecting to be in rain all day today and tomorrow. We had planned to stop in Tuscaloosa tonight. But, we drove out of the rain in midmorning (by the Mississippi River and Vicksburg).

It was not even 3 CDT when we got to Tuscaloosa, so we decided to head for home. Not only was it too early to stop, but we figured the rain would've caught up with us overnight. We got here about 7 EDT - about a 10 hour day. It was all interstate, though, and not too bad. And the rain is predicted to come upon us tonight.

I've already started the wash, and gotten most of the stuff put away. Our yard was covered with twigs and leaves, and 3-4 of our big trees look severely damaged. John's afraid our crepe myrtle is dead. The neighbors said that everything had leafed out, and then we had two nights and a day of temperatures in the 20s. I guess time will tell about any permanent damage.

Don't stop reading just because we're home for a while. And I'll try to keep writing. Today's picture is a painting I did earlier this year, acrylic on canvas (@30x24").

Thanks to Lady Bird Johnson!

For those of you not old enough to remember, Lady Bird Johnson was responsible for the beautification of U.S. highways by planting wildflowers in the medians and on the roadsides. This morning as we left Big Springs, TX, we started noticing bluebonnets (the Texas state flower) alongside I-20. What a treat! Bluebonnets; pink (buttercup? primroses?); yellow (3-4 different kinds); red-orange (Indian paintbrush); pink/purple (lupine); white (tall, spikey things?). Just lovely. We'd never seen West Texas so green. They must've had lots of rain this spring.

We did get into some major rain today. We stopped for lunch at Weatherford (just west of Fort Worth), and as we left there, the sky just opened up. John had taken over the driving because he wanted to be the one driving through D/FW. Fortunately, it did slack off before we got into the cities, although it did rain some most of the way through. We did go through some more rain in eastern Texas, but nothing that bad. Poor John - he had all the fun today - rain, Dallas/Fort Worth, and construction zones. I'm sure he'll see that I have more "fun" tomorrow.

We're in Bossier City, LA, tonight - just barely into LA. But since we're here, we had to look for seafood and/or Cajun food. Would you believe there's a Ralph & Kacoo's just a few blocks from the motel we chose. Anyone who has been to New Orleans knows this chain and what good food they serve. We had appetizers and shared: crawfish etouffe, crab cakes, mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat. Yum!!! (You did understand that you were in for travels and food adventures with John and Mary when you started reading this, didn't you?)

Well, it took us a day and a half to get across Texas, and we plan to do Louisiana and Mississippi and get into Alabama tomorrow. There's not much navigation involved in travelling on the interstate. Oh, yes - I forgot - we did have a digression today. Just west of the Kilgore exits, we saw some temporary signs along the road saying "Accident ahead". Oops! It must be a big one if they've had time to put out signs. We got off the interstate and went almost to Kilgore, before find another road heading back north to I-20, but farther east. We wound up going 25 miles, and re-entered I-20 15 miles further east. But at least we weren't sitting still or crawling along getting around the accident.

Bad weather is predicted to come through this area tonight. And we'll probably get some rain the rest of the way home. But I hope nobody gets anything too bad - and we surely don't want it along the highway.

Today's picture was taken at the Mountain Ute Tribal Park.

From Big Spring, Texas

Last night was not the best. The eczema that has bothered me for years was in high gear, and the itching kept me awake for most of the night. Oh, well - nobody wants to hear about that.

We left the Circle Cross just before 7 a.m. MDT; first heading east, then south. We wanted to make another stop at Carlsbad Caverns. We did half of the easier self-guided tour. John would probably have done the whole thing, but there was a guy who wanted to follow us and talk the whole time, so John bailed out with me. The Caverns are incredible - the first folks who saw it must have been literally awestruck. We left there about noon, and continued south, picking up I-20 at Pecos, TX.

We love stopping at tiny places in the southwest to get Mexican food, and we found a great one today. Called La Nortena, it's in Pecos and is mainly a drive through for tamales and other delicacies. We went in and got 3 red and 3 green tamales and sat at one of the two tables to eat. It was divine! Be sure to look it up if you're ever in the neighborhood.

Now that we're on I-20, we'll just stay there until we get to Birmingham and head to Chattanooga on I-59. We got into our motel here in Big Spring, then started out for another local Mexican place. We finally found La Posada, and had another good dinner. There was a strong, brief thunderstorm while we were in the restaurant, but it was all over by the time we came out.

Back to the motel for some Benadryl, lots of lotion on my arms and legs, and an early bedtime.

Today's picture is a view of one of the manmade lakes on the Circle Cross.

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday afternoon, John L took us on a Jeep ride around some of the lower pastures on the Circle Cross. It is a gorgeous ranch. They have done so much work on it, clearing, irrigating, laying water pipe, seeding for grazing. Certainly well out of any experiences that I have had, but I do appreciate the hard work and the results that I can see. We saw some cattle, one 2-day-old calf, and lots of deer.

This afternoon, he took us onto some of the higher ground, where they have built a reservoir, and plan to do some more clearing and pasture-building. We've had beautiful weather since we've been here, and have enjoyed getting to see some of the fruits of their hard work.

We plan to head out east in the morning, probably stopping first at Carlsbad Cavern.

Today's picture is of the remains of some cattails at the reservoir.

Still at the Circle Cross

John Z and John L spent most of yesterday outside, doing stuff around the ranch. Marty and I worked on our knitting.

This morning, we headed out to Cloudcroft and Ruidoso Downs to pick up John L's new lawnmower and go to Wal-Mart. The ranch is about 45 minutes from Cloudcroft, then another hour to get to Ruidoso. It's through gorgeous country - up and down mountains, through valleys, just enjoying the ride. We stopped at the Inn of the Mountain Gods, a Mescalero Apache casino/hotel/resort, and got some lunch. Then we managed to find the Sears appliance store in Ruidoso Downs and Wal-Mart. We had thought we might eat dinner at the hotel, but by 1:30, we were ready to head for home.

So now we're back. Marty's headed for a nap. John and John are messing with the lawnmower. And I'm getting in my computer time.

The Circle Cross is on the National Historic Register. The "Big House" was built by a man named Lee, who was big in early NM politics. The Lindsays bought the property about 8+ years ago, and are working with lots of ideas, trying to make it self-sufficient. They do elk and turkey hunts, run cattle and horses, have a full-service campground, do a lot of irrigation projects, etc. The latest project is setting up a small sawmill to mill lumber for area residents to sell and to use for ranch building projects. It's a very special place.

Today's picture is of "The Big House".

From the Circle Cross, 4-20-2007

It's another beautiful day here in south central New Mexico. Cousin Marty and I pretty much frittered the day away yesterday, knitting and talking. John (Zelle) and John (Lindsay) were out driving around the ranch in the four-wheeler, JL doing work and making decisions, and JZ going along for the ride. It'd be hard to say which one had the best time.

This morning, J&J have been out doing more work around the ranch, checking on cattle, seeing if water-pumping is going on. Again, they're having fun, and getting out into the fresh air. And, I actually think they're accomplishing things.

Marty's working on a poncho for one of her granddaughters, and I'm (as usual) finishing up a pair of socks. Tentative plans are for us to go into Ruidoso this afternoon to pick up a new lawnmower that JL had ordered, to make a Wal-Mart run, to eat dinner, and see what else we can see.

Today's picture is a petroglyph from the Mountain Ute Tribal Park near Cortez, CO.

From the Circle Cross Ranch

4-18-2007

First I must apologize - the photograph on the last post was mis-identified. It was actually taken from the Lizard Head Pass on the San Juan Skyway.

What a great week we had with Ann & Al, Gin & Jim. We all took off in different directions this morning. We headed south into New Mexico. We stopped at the Toadlena Trading Post, a few miles west of Hwy 491 and south of Shiprock. It's very small, but they have a great museum and display of Two Grey Hills style rugs and blankets. They have all been doing by members of the same extended family - the earliest in the 1920s and the latest just a year or so old. The Two Grey Hills rugs/blankets are all done in white/ivory/grey/beige/tan/brown/black. The only dye used is possibly black. They had gobs of them for sale, too, but more than we wanted to pay at this time. We're so glad that we went by there - and heartily recommend it to anyone who is in the neighborhood. Thanks to Gin for bringing it to our attention. I'll post the web site later.

The rest of the drive was pretty straight-forward. We stopped for lunch at El Cafecito in Grants, NM. We had eaten there before, and had a great lunch - recommend that, too. We did do a quick visit to the Visitors' Center at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. It's a fascinating facility, too. It was built in the 1930s by the CCC.

Everything here at the ranch (about 30 miles from Cloudcroft, NM, partially in a national forest) is green and gorgeous. We're exhausted, so won't be long for this world. I'm not on my computer, so no picture.

We finally got to the ranch about 6:45 - a long, LONG day of driving.

4-16-07
This morning turned off nice after all. We made reservations for the Ute Mountain Tribal Park tour of Mesa Verde sites for tomorrow morning. Today we decided to drive the San Juan Skyway.

What a great choice that turned out to be. Cortez to Dolores to Telluride were great. There was about 2" of new snow on the fields and trees, with none on the roads - our favorite kind of snow. Blue skies with some puffy clouds made for good photographs. Ann, Al, John & I went in one car, with Jim & Virginia in their car. They were only going to Telluride, and then were turning around to go back to Lowry Pueblo and home. The rest of us planned to complete the loop to Ridgeway, Ouray, Silverton, Durango, and home.

We all met up in Telluride and walked around for a bit. Virginia found a gorgeous Persian rug - most unusual - part usual rug tufting type stitches, with insets and border that looked like needlepoint. It was nothing like any of us had seen before. Gin & Jim were going to decide for sure whether to purchase, and the rest of us headed on. (p.s. - They bought the rug, but were having it shipped home.)

We had lunch in Ridgeway at, of all places, a Thai restaurant called "Siam". It was a tiny place, maybe only 25 seats, with gorgeous decor, and incredible food. The only strange note was the country music playing on the intercom. Nevertheless, it took over first place as our best meal so far.

From there, we went on to Ouray, then south to Silverton, Durango, and home. Above Ouray, probably an additional 6" of snow had fallen the night before, and the roads had been plowed. It was glorious! I don't think we could've stood it if the skies had been blue. It didn't make for great photography, just a great treat for the eyes and the memory. We got back home a little after 5.
We had home-cooked hamburgers for dinner, and then finished out the day with some Mexican Train. Tomorrow, we'll get an early start to be at the Ute Mountain Tribal Park by 8:30.

4-17-07
We had great weather today, clear to start, then high white puffy clouds toward late morning. The trip in the Ute Mountain Tribal Park was very good. We did the half-day trip, and drove our own car. It was great to see the area around Mesa Verde from the valley floor. We walked through sites absolutely covered with pottery sherds, and saw an amazing number of petroglyphs. Another group went in a tribal van with the guide for the full-day trip. I did a couple of the short walks, but none of the climbing stuff. I could see lots of petroglyphs, though. It's definitely a recommended trip.

We stopped in Cortez for gas and a grocery-store-roasted chicken for supper, and then got home about 2:00. We'll spend the afternoon getting stuff ready to leave tomorrow and probably getting in some more Mexican Train.

John and I will be heading south into New Mexico tomorrow, going to John & Marty Lindsay's ranch near Cloudcroft. We plan to be there for a few days before turning back east. I should be able to get some computer access there - we shall see. But this will be my last posting from Kelly Place. It's been a super week - both for the place and, of course, getting together with Ann, Al, Gin, & Jim.

Today's picture is new snow near Ouray, CO.

4-15-07
Kind of an easy day today. The weather was warm, but cloudy. Ann, Al, John and I drove up to Lowery Pueblo, one of the outlying sites of Hovenweep Nat'l Monument. The site is north of Cortez. That area is relatively flat and agricultural - the pinto bean capital of the US. The pueblo is quite interesting, built onto several times over the course of 60-70 years. The whole area is called the Great Sage Plain, and has one of the greatest number of prehistoric sites anywhere in the country. Within this area is the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. Jim and Gin stayed home, getting Gin over the aches and pains from her horseback ride.

After lunch, we finished the game of Mexican Train (dominoes) that we had started last night. And we wound up playing Mexican Train all afternoon. It was cloudy and windy, so it was just a good "down-time" day. This is a great game for 4-8 people.

We ate at an Italian restaurant, and had our best "out" dinner so far. Then we came home and finished the last game of the day.

Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler and 40% chance of rain. We'll have to wait to see what's happening in the morning before we make a decision as to what to do tomorrow.

The photo today is from Mesa Verde.

Saturday afternoon - 4-14-07

Yesterday, Friday, 13 April, is a special day - it's my mother's birthday. Pink would've been 99 this year. I can't believe it's been so long since she died in 1983.

It was colder and not quite as nice Friday. Virginia went on a horseback ride with a couple from here at Kelly Place. The rest of us sat around and read and played bridge. Later, the hikers went to the archeological sites here close around Kelly Place - really fascinating to have these places so close, and to actually touch without rangers, etc. In the afternoon, the hikers went to Hovenweek National Park, and had a great time there. We went into town for dinner - nothing special.

The plan for today, weather permitting, was to go to Mesa Verde. After some morning ground fog and lots of frost, the day was magnificent. The high was about 60, no wind, and gloriously clear, cloudless, bluebird skies. Mesa Verde is great at any time, but the weather made this extra special. The hikers took the tours of Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House, and all of us went to lots of overlooks and surface sites. Some of the other places had not reopened from the winter closure, but there was plenty to do even so.

Al, Ann, and Gin stopped at Notah Dineh to shop and look at their wonderful pottery, rugs, and jewelry. It'll be interesting to see what, if anything, they get. For supper tonight, we get to be treated with Gin's famous meatloaf. Then we'll sit around to decide what to consider doing tomorrow. Probably also some dominoes and bridge.

Thursday afternoon 4-12-07

Woke up this morning to rain and snow. It had snowed the higher elevations, and was pretty yucky all morning. We sat around and told lies this morning, deciding what to do for the day.

After lunch, we headed out to the Anasazi Heritage Center near Dolores, CO. http://www.co.blm.gov/ahc/ This is a great facility. John and I had been here before, but it was new for the others. It was a good way to spend an otherwise pretty cold/snowy/rainy couple of hours. By the time we left, the sun had come out. But then it was time to head for home and maybe some wine and some dinner (cooked in tonight). We ate Mexican in town last night.

I'm sure we'll be discussing tonight what the plan for tomorrow will be. Since my internet access is somewhat limited, I'll have to just write when I can.

We still have Hovenweep, Mesa Verde, one possibly longer hike, etc., all on the list of choices.

Today's picture is from Creede, CO.

Thursday afternoon 4-12-07

Woke up this morning to rain and snow. It had snowed the higher elevations, and was pretty yucky all morning. We sat around and told lies this morning, deciding what to do for the day.

After lunch, we headed out to the Anasazi Heritage Center near Dolores, CO. http://www.co.blm.gov/ahc/ This is a great facility. John and I had been here before, but it was new for the others. It was a good way to spend an otherwise pretty cold/snowy/rainy couple of hours. By the time we left, the sun had come out. But then it was time to head for home and maybe some wine and some dinner (cooked in tonight). We ate Mexican in town last night.

I'm sure we'll be discussing tonight what the plan for tomorrow will be. Since my internet access is somewhat limited, I'll have to just write when I can.

We still have Hovenweep, Mesa Verde, one possibly longer hike, etc., all on the list of choices.

Today's picture is from Creede, CO.

I forgot to mention that also on Tuesday (after lunch), we drove south from La Veta toward Cuchara to see a geologic formation that we had seen last year when we were in the area. The mountains, East and West Spanish Peaks, are surrounded by more than 500 radial dikes, thin ridges of rock that fan out from the peaks, frequently high into the air above the trees. We did get some photos this time. Fascinating things to see.

We left the motel in Alamosa early this morning - bright sunshine and cold. At least the wind had stopped. A lady where we had lunch in La Veta on Tuesday recommended that we turn off #190 at South Fork and drive north to Creede. So we did that. The road heads north, paralleling the Rio Grande River. The 22 miles of the road are bordered by snow-covered mountains and palisades. It was a lovely drive. And, obviously, this Rio Grande is nothing like the one we're used to seeing near Brownsville, TX.

One particularly odd thing we saw along #160, were literally miles and miles of old train cars, the type used to transport semi-trailers, along a stretch of obviously unused track. This started east of Del Norte and was solid until we lost the track at South Fork (it was 16 miles from DN to SF).

We stopped for lunch at a delightful cafe between Durango and Mancos - the Kennebec Cafe and Bakery. Then headed on to Kelly Place.

We got here early, about 2:30, and were the first ones here. Our cabin is part of a doublewide away from the main lodge. So unfortunately, we don't get the wireless connection. I will be able to get it in the lodge, but will not have as much access as I had hoped. Oh, well.
Ann & Al and Gin & Jim got here in good time, and it was great to see everybody. Gin pleaded tiredness and didn't go to dinner with us. The rest of us went into town for Mexican food and to go to Safeway for groceries. We're all pretty tired from long days of driving, so it was an early night.

addendum for 4-12-07: No pictures today - I forgot to bring the camera over to the lodge. We woke up to snow on Sleeping Ute Mountain behind us, and rain. Don't know what we'll do today - probably play dominoes and cards.

A trip journal

It's been a long time since I've written. Shame on me! I'm motivated now to use this forum to write a trip journal. This particular trip is motivated by a chance to get together with Ann & Al (John's sister and brother-in-law) and Gin & Jim (John's cousin and spouse). Gin made our reservations at the Kelly Place B&B near Cortez, CO, based on our recommendation after our Elderhostel there in April 2006.

We left home on Saturday, 7 April, and headed west. We stopped in Jonesboro, AR, that night. Then headed toward a planned stop in Wichita, KS, on Sunday night. Along the way, we drove through West Plains, MO, where Flo Jean and Eva Jane grew up. FJ had told us how to find her house. We did without problem, and took some pictures. It's a neat old white Victorian, but the town has changed quite a bit, I'm sure, since they left.

From there, we headed through Springfield, MO. In the area just west of there, the devastation to the trees from last January's ice storm was incredible. It looked almost like tornado damage, except it was such a huge area. What a shame! We drove on some rural county roads through the rest of Missouri, then got on a major US highway in Kansas.

A great treat in Wichita was the chance to meet up with a long-time SeniorNet buddie, Shirley (Tisie) Stallard. We originally met on an Alaska travel discussion board, and she suggested I start reading SeniorNet. That was in about 1998. But this was the first time we had met face-to-face. We had a great time - laughed and laughed. See the picture. We had seen lots of grass/brush fires along the highway east of Wichita. Shirley explained that they were burning off the dead stubble and weeds to freshen the fields for the new year.

Monday morning, we headed our across western Kansas and eastern Colorado. Nothing exciting - just a long, long drive. We spent last night in Pueblo, CO.

Today was to be our Colorado "touristing" day - and boy, did we get a lot! We headed west out of Pueblo shortly before 8, and got into some rain showers and some snow flurries. Then the sun broke through, as we got into the foothills. We got some great photos of the sun shining on the mountains with the dark clouds behind and overhead. We even saw a couple of rainbows. We drove on over the Wet Mountains into the Wet Mountain Valley, then turned south toward Gardner. At Gardner, we turned into a dirt county road, and headed south. After a few miles, we noticed new snow on the trees and ground - then on the road - then lots more on the road. As we climbed toward Pass Creek Pass, the snow on the road got deeper and deeper. John finally lost traction and had to stop. The snow was probably about 6" deep. We found a driveway for a safe turnaround - and did so, heading back north to a paved road. Then we drove from Gardner back south to LaVeta. And all this was before lunch.

After lunch in LaVeta, we headed on west. The wind had gotten fierce, but the sun was shining brightly. As we drove to LaVeta Pass, the wind was buffeting the car, and we were getting pelted by gravel and/or sand. Finally as we headed down the pass, we realized that it really was a sand/dust storm - a lot coming from Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Monument.

What a day! We were glad to stop for the day about 3 p.m. in Alamosa. The wind never did slack off - it just kept getting colder. After supper, I did some laundry, so we'll have clean clothes for tomorrow to head for Cortez to meet up with the group for our week at Kelly Place.

Starting 2006 travel

We're just back from our first trip of the year. We flew to The Valley to see my wonderful Aunt Betsy. For those who don't know, The Valley refers to that part of the Rio Grande River Valley from Brownsville, TX, upriver for several counties. It used to be a number of small discrete towns, but they've now grown so much, it's pretty much solid development. Some of the towns are Harlingen, Edinburg, McAllen, Weslaco, Pharr, Donna, San Juan, Progresso, Hidalgo, etc., etc. Members of my family (my mother's aunts, grandmother, etc.) have lived in the area for years and years.

Betsy is 86, and we fly down to visit her every year. She's a dear wonderful woman, and we just wish we were closer. We do always go in January or February. I grew up in Houston, but have become acclimated to less heat and humidity, so we don't go in the summertime. In the last few years, we've enjoyed getting to know my cousin, Ken, and his son, Christopher (trivia - Chris is my first cousin/once removed). Our daughter Margaret has gone with us the last two years.

We flew down on Friday, and home yesterday. We packed for temperatures in the 80s, and had temps in the 40s with wind and drizzle. It was really yucky. At least not as bad as it was back in Nashville with below-freezing temps and snow. No snow when we got back home, and we had an easy drive to Margaret's to pick up our car, and then back home to Chattanooga.

More travel plans tomorrow and I'll download my pictures from the weekend and post some photos.

This has been a busy year, and I haven't written much. I'm sorry, and will try to do better.

Our trips have been wonderful (as usual), and I'll try to get back to write about them individually. But today, I wanted to post a picture of one of my paintings that was juried into an exhibit here in Chattanooga. The exhibit is called Eye Candy. It went up in early November and will be hanging through the end of the year. A reception for the juror and the artists was last night. It was exciting getting to meet the juror and some of the other artists. The food was good, too, but a crowded reception is really not the best place to see the art that's hanging. We did see the show a couple of weeks ago, but we need to go back and look again.

My piece (Color Symphony) is acrylic on canvas, 36x36". I've been doing nonrepresentational pieces for quite a while, but this series is the first time I've done acrylic on canvas. Usually I do watercolor or acrylic on paper. They have been great fun to do, and have have "come" very quickly. I so much enjoy the "process" of making art. I want the piece to be good and to be meaningful to the viewer, but my main joy is in the "doing".

I hope this brings some color into a cold, gray, drizzly day.

Memorial Day Weekend

Hi everybody! Two of our daughters, one granddaughter, and one granddog are here for a couple of days. Sue (our oldest) and Alison (oldest granddaughter) drove from South Carolina, and Jean (youngest) and Spencer (granddog) came from Nashville.

Right after they all got here, we headed out to the new Ocean Journey portion of the Tennessee Aquarium. Alison has just graduated (cum laude [says the proud grandma]) from the College of Charleston with majors in Marine Biology and Spanish. She was really eager to see the new part of the Aquarium. And it is great! She loves the invertebrates (jellyfish, nautilus, etc.), and they have a good exhibit of those. So it was a fun afternoon.

I had made lasagna, so we had that for dinner. They'll all be here for a while tomorrow, then Sue and Alison are headed for dinner with their other grandfather, and then home. Jean will be here until Sunday. We'll probably go to the Hunter Museum of American Art tomorrow, but don't know what else we'll do. Maybe find a shop or two to browse in.

Alison is headed to Panama next Friday to work at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. I guess she's all grown up now, and off to start on her new life. She'll be there about 9 months, and then will probably be starting graduate school in the fall of 2006.
Have a great weekend!

Second post for the day

Jean tells me that I've been bad, and haven't been posting here. This is true, and I'll try to do better.

An update on the cancer treatment:

I had my first post-radiation visit with the surgeon yesterday. He says everything's looking fine. I am to see him in four months (September) after having a left-sided mammogram right before the appointment. Then I'll have a bilateral mammogram in January - a year from the routine one where they found the "irregularity". I asked him if he thought I was being a fool for deciding not to take Femara (the 5-year-course of medication recommended by the medical oncologist) - since the invasive part of my tumor was ER negative. He said that I wasn't being foolish, that it definitely wasn't cut-and-dried, since they found this very early, it was small, and no chemo was required. I do feel better about that now.

I saw the radiologist today - and now there is a semi-long-term plan in place. He said that the tissues held up very well during the radiation and that I seem to have recovered nicely. I asked him, too, if I was a fool for not taking Femara. He said that since the invasive part of the tumor was ER negative, medication was probably not indicated - would definitely have no bearing on my "survival". It was usually prescribed to lessen the chances of recurrence or new tumor formation.

Since I'm to see the surgeon in September, the radiologist wants me to come back to see him in January, i.e., to see one of them every 3-4 months. He said that the surgeon "was in charge" of the plan and we'd follow his lead. The radiologist also said that since I wasn't going to take medication, there was no reason for me to follow up with the medical oncologist, so I won't need to make an appointment to see him.

This past 5 month period has really seemed like a surreal dream. Amazing. But I really do feel good now, and am looking forward to our week at the beach next month, and our trip to Russia in August.