Nothing exciting today.

A pedicure and a foot massage surely does improve your outlook. I love my pedicure days. At lunch today, I mentioned that I had gotten a pedicure this morning. One of the folks asked why John didn't do that for me. He said that I'd never asked him - and I guess that's true. Hmmmmm.... Guess I'll have to think about that.

Our lunch group may have found a new home. It's not too convenient for us, but the food was pretty good and reasonably priced. And, after all, we go for the company and the conversation.
I check a couple of places for some clothes today. I found a pair of slacks and a knit shirt - got them both on sale at K-Mart for less than $15. Not bad!

We have a mama cardinal nesting in the corner post of our front porch. This is literally only about 5' from our front door. The nest is fairly low - just about my eye level. She's gotten pretty used to us by now - doesn't fly off when we go in an out. But we're trying to keep our usage of the front door to a minimum. She was off the nest when we left this morning, and there are three little speckled eggs in the nest. We've got our fingers crossed and will keep watching. I'm trying to get some pictures, but it's in a pretty dark place and I don't want to use the flash.

Today - a closer view of the window in the pink building.

Not enough sleep

I wasn't worth much today. Last night was one of my non-sleeping nights. My usual is about 6 hours of sleep per night, but I don't do well on two. Which is what I got last night. No real reason - it just happens from time to time. Anyhow, I got a good nap in this afternoon.

All the paint I slung around yesterday did turn out pretty well. With a little tweaking, I wound up with two pieces on canvas (can go together or separately) and two acrylics on paper. Not a bad day's work, but then I do tend to work in spurts. I'll try to get some photos this time.

It's been an interesting couple of days in the political arena. We had to love that life-time Republican Senator Arlen Specter moved to the Democratic party. And that he gave as his reason that the GOP had become so single-minded and dogmatic that it would rather lose the election than tolerate any difference of opinion. It's great to hear someone finally say that.

President Obama held a prime-time press conference on the occasion of his having completed 100 days in office. What joy to hear this man speak. It's not necessary to agree with everything he says or proposes, and nobody expects that. But this man is SO intelligent, and he thinks, and speaks his mind, and can think on his feet to answer specific questions. It's really a refreshing change.

And this is another view of the pink building.

A Long Tuesday

Today was a Studio2 / Gallery2 day. I helped Vicki with her class this morning, and took our paintings to the AVA gallery for the member show (1-16 May).

I made a huge mess this afternoon. Vicki had ordered new canvases and lots of tubes of acrylic paint. I had to get all my stuff out to see which ones I needed (only got 3 new tubes of paint plus some canvases). And, of course, with all that time and space, I had to get some painting done. I'm glad that I deliberately wore clothes that I didn't mind getting paint on...because I did a LOT of that. I'm not sure anything is finished, but definitely got a lot of "starts".

The afternoon concluded with a very satisfactory artists' meeting. All but one of the artists attended, and we made a number of decisions. Also, we set up a schedule of times for artists to gallery-sit, and agreed to stay open one night a week (Third Thursdays). We did a lot of brain-storming with several suggestions made and assignments made to do research on possible advertising flyers and web presence.

John went swimming, and then took his car in for service. So we were both productive today. I surely was glad we had left-overs for dinner tonight. I think we'll take it easier tomorrow.

This is a closeup of the window in the pink building on the Southside.

Surprises and Glitches

I got a fun surprise today. Missy from swimming had been telling me for a week that she would have a surprise for me today. We were met at coffee after swimming by a woman I had known about 40 years ago when we both worked at a knit shop in Hendersonville. I recognized her immediately as somebody from the past, but had to ask her name and "where". We both had small children at the time, and helped out part-time at the knit shop, mostly for a discount on yarn and to get out of the house. It was a fun time.

She is still working with fiber, knitting, and weaving. She, too, went back to school as an art major, and has been teaching classes at the folk school and other places. There a newer knit shop in Hendersonville, and she knits with a group there once a week. Missy had met her through a mutual knitting friend, and in conversation, discovered that they both knew me. It was fun to go through all the "do you remember..." things. I hope we meet up again sometime.

FJ is having a really strange computer glitch. She's just gotten her first laptop (finally), and her sons-in-law have set up a wireless network in the house. She has the same e-mail address and set-up on both the laptop and the desktop. But an e-mail that comes into one computer does not show up on the other. Two e-mails can be sent by the same person to the same address, but one will go to one computer and one to the other. If she sends an e-mail to herself, it only goes to the computer from which it was sent. She can do everything else she wants to do on the laptop, and all is wonderful, except for this one not-so-small thing. Nobody seems to be able to solve the problem. Any suggestions???

Today's photo is of pink brick on the Southside.

Another Sunday

The Chattanooga Market started its 2009 season today. I hadn't been for a long time - since the first year it was open. I was fairly disappointed today. I should've know there wouldn't be much produce for sale - it's just too early in the season. I didn't find much in the way of arts and crafts that I wanted to linger over. Maybe that was just my frame of mind - who knows. I guess I'll go back later on in the summer, just to get some of the good, fresh, local produce if nothing else. It certainly is a popular event here in town.

Matt and Amanda had been in Hillsboro for the weekend, and stopped by here on their way home. Matt helped John sweep and blow the first of the nasty oak flowers off the roof while Amanda and I talked. They also brought several boxes of jelly and veggies from Margaret. And there was a surprise - fresh asparagus!!! Oh, YUM! Definitely a treat! Thanks! The kids are house-hunting, so I got an update on that.

While I was outside talking to Amanda, we startled a momma cardinal who, we discovered, had built a nest in the ivy growing up the wrought-iron post of the front porch. I hope I can get a picture of her, and that she can raise some babies before the neighborhood critters discover the nest. I'm just glad it's not a mockingbird. We'd have to abandon the front door for a while - they're SO aggressive while they're nesting.

The photo today is of one of the light standards at Finley Stadium.

Smithsonian surprise

The May 2009 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine was delivered today. John was reading an article about Big Sur, CA, and suddenly said, "Read this paragraph". It was about Esalen. Imagine my surprise to read the name, Gordon Wheeler. Gordon is my first cousin, the son of my father's younger brother. Obviously we hadn't had any contact in a number of years - the last I knew, he was still at Harvard. Glad to hear what he's doing. This is the paragraph from Smithsonian.

Today, workshops are offered for substantial fees in a quirky array of blissed-out topics, from Harmonic Presence: Primordial Wisdom to The Music of the Spheres. Last year, some 15,000 guests attended Esalen; an all-inclusive weekend stay costs a minimum of $385. Esalen director Gordon Wheeler, a clinical psychologist from Harvard, was hired in 2004 and charged with putting Esalen firmly into the black. "We've always been about personal and social transformation," which, he adds, means developing heightened awareness that "the world's in tough shape," and, as a result, "we have to step up locally as well as globally." As for Big Sur, Wheeler says "it's the land of the individualist and legendary because of that. It's outlaw country."

Other than that excitement, it was a quiet day around here. The high for the day was 88, tying the record high for this date. So far, it's still staying cool in the house, and we haven't had to turn on the a/c.

Try this view of the window for another Rorschach test.

Serendipity & Synergy

In the fall of 2001, our local YMCA opened a new indoor pool. As might be expected, there were accommodations made for lap swimmers, for free swim time, and for exercise classes. One class in particular took off in an unexpected direction.

An "interval class" was one of those started. It's a deep-water class, held Monday/Wednesday/Friday at 7:30 a.m. Gail started out as the teacher, and still puts up with us. The class was set up to be one that worked in intervals of slow movement alternating with fast movements to increase the heart rate. These benefits came as a given. But something serendipitous happened. The exercisers became friends.

Some of the participants (mostly women, with a few men) knew each other from outside, but most were stangers to one another. Over about the first year, a few of us started going for coffee after class. The number grew as we became more comfortable with each other. And this closeness continues to grow. We started meeting one another totally outside the exercise class. But it's never been exclusive. We are very welcoming of any newcomers (and probably scare a few folks away). Names are always exchanged to newcomers to the class and an invitation to join us at coffee is always extended. Some spouses who don't participate in the class also join in for coffee and other get-togethers.

We started having a Christmas/Passover holiday breakfast after class sometime during the holidays. And then we started having occasional birthday breakfasts at a local restaurant. Sometimes we get together for a lunch or something that doesn't even involve eating. (John always says that no calorie burned during class shall go unreplaced.)

We have celebrated births and mourned deaths. We have welcomed new grandchildren and great-grandchildren and new husbands. We have supported each other through cancer (ourselves and our loved ones), through joint replacements, through cataract surgery, through illnesses - sometimes with casseroles and always with love.

I guess synergy would be another descriptive word - something that becomes greater than the sum of its parts. A simple desire to get some exercise turned into a tightly woven social network. No, that's not right. We've become an extended family.

What a joy!

 

Weather, lunch, and fire

Highs from 88-80 predicted for the next seven days. It's WAY too early for temperatures that high. John's doing the happy dance, and I'm sulking. I guess the a/c will be turned on this week. A sudden, strong, and thankfully brief line of thunderstorms went through late this afternoon. Then it was gone, and the sun came back out.

The Thursday lunch bunch went to a different location today. The food was great - I got a veggie plate (fried green tomatoes, pinto beans, turnip greens, potato salad, and a big cornbread pancake. It doesn't get any better than that! But it was terribly noisy, making conversation impossible with anybody except the person sitting next to you. And, since the whole reason for this group is the conversation, I don't guess we'll stay there.

We got haircuts this afternoon, too - and that always makes us feel good.

Remember the big fire last week at the Dollar General store? The fire was started by a 9-year-old who was angry at his mother. He was caught last night lighting a match near the gas pumps at a convenience store across the street from the previous fire. This is a seriously disturbed boy - to say nothing about his parental situation.

Another photo from last Saturday.

 

Hot off the presses!

Hot off the presses! I couldn't make this stuff up...

Talladega: PETA protests mass chicken dance at NASCAR race (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

Talladega, Ala. (AP) — PETA is taking on what it describes as a new affront to animals: NASCAR fans doing the chicken dance.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked Guinness World Records Inc. on Monday to ignore an attempt to set a world record for the largest group chicken dance at the Talladega Superspeedway, site of the Aaron's 499 race on Sunday.

The reason? KFC is the sponsor of the record attempt, and the animal rights group says the fast-food company is cruel to chickens.

A KFC spokesman defended the company's treatment of animals and said it hoped to get 125,000 race fans involved in the mass dance.

Another news story from this week.

Cops follow cups to suspected drug thieves in Foley
Posted by Craig Myers, Staff Reporter April 20, 2009 4:55 PM (Mobile Press Register)
Categories: Breaking News

Foley police followed a trail of paper and plastic cups to two men who allegedly stole a cart full of prescription drugs from a nursing home, and a third suspect believed to be an accomplice.

About 11 p.m. Saturday night, police were called to the Golden Living Center behind South Baldwin Regional Medical Center after two men reportedly pushed the cart out the back door and drove off with it.

The cart contained a large number of small paper and plastic cups used to distribute medicine and they blew out the back window as the suspects drove, according to investigators.

Lt. David White said he and Cpl. Kevin Carnley followed the cups for about 20 minutes from the parking lot to a home nearly a mile away on Cedar Court.

David Michael Logan, 29, and Joshua Aaron Gollnick, 29, were charged with first-degree theft, while Nicholas Michael Gollnick, 30, was charged with receiving stolen property, police said.

A web site of interest that I wanted to share is World Digital Library. I haven't explored it very much, but it looks like it would be great fun to browse.

This was my planned blog for last night. I still felt it was worth sharing. Today's photo is another from last Saturday.

 

Comcast Failure

Oops! Comcast was hors de combat from early afternoon until sometime after midnight (when I went to bed). So no TV or internet or blog for yesterday. And I even had it written early. We'll be SO glad when we can get our TV and internet from another source - hopefully within a year.

Monday , Monday

Monday, Monday - sounds like some song lyrics. But just the usual routine.

John decided to skip bridge today. I had some really good cards and some really bad cards - just the way it usually is.

For you grammarians out there, be sure to bookmark The Grammarphobia Blog.

Another photo from Saturday morning.

 

Rain, rain, rain

We've been virtual slugs today. Well, not exactly true, but we did stay in all day and in "soft clothes" all day. And it has rained all day. We've had about an inch so far, and it's still raining.

I got the laundry done, and then tackled the worst job. I tried on clothes to find out what needs to be taken out of the closet and passed on. I went through all the hanging clothes, and quit there. The folded stuff will just have to wait for another day. That's mostly knit shirts and sweatshirts, and I can pretty much go by the labeled sizes without having to try on. So there's lots of stuff to take to the women's shelter. And now I have a better idea of what I need to be looking for as replacements.

Did you know: On 18 April 1934 (75 years ago), the first laundromat (called a "washateria) opened in Fort Worth, Texas.

Today's photo is another industrial view.

 

A Sunny Saturday

This is the weekend for the big Four Bridges Art Festival here in Chattanooga. It's a big one, and draws artists from all over the country. I hadn't been in a few years, but I decided to go because it was such a pretty day. Anyhow, the work displayed was great, although nothing much that tempted me to buy. I did get a small thing for a dear friend, but that was all.

I got home in time for lunch and nap - a perfect day!

There was absolutely nothing on TV tonight, so we got caught up on the Friday night's recording from PBS, and, from On Demand, some episodes of shows that we had missed. And then I got caught up in the middle of "You've Got Mail". I do love that movie. So when it started over right away, I started watching it again. Oh, well.....

I love to take photos of old industrial buildings. This one is on Carter Street (Reggie White Blvd.) near the stadium.

 

Music, art, and hawks

We tried to make up for missing the UTC concert tonight by remembering the date of our Symphony tickets. It was an all Leonard Bernstein concert, and it was quite a treat. There were two soloists - a tenor and a coloratura soprano. The soloists had wonderful voices, but we're not fans of operatic voices. The music was terrific - in any case.

My art is now in an international collection, on a Small Island. S. bought a piece that she saw here on my blog. I mailed it last week, and she got it this morning. S., I hope you continue to enjoy the painting.

It's SO nice to know that our red-tailed hawks are back again this year. John went out on the deck to read this afternoon. Just after he did, I heard one of the hawks squawking (a little alliteration is always a good thing). When John came back in, I asked if he'd heard it. He said not only that, the hawk (an adolescent) was sitting in a small pine tree just back of our turnaround, squawking. About that time, an adult came flying through the yard, followed by another adult. Then the youngster took off after them. What a supreme treat that is! Here we are less than a mile from a major shopping area and mall, with a family of red-tailed hawks living in our back yard. WOW!

This photo is from the Pale Male web site, and is of one of the red-tailed hawks in New York City.

 

Time for "the home"?????

It may be time to start looking for "the home". We had planned to go to the UTC Symphonic Band year-end concert this week. We'd seen it in the program last week, planned to go, and wrote it on the calendar. Every place we saw it, and wrote it down said it was for Wednesday, 15 April. But somehow, we got it in our heads that it was Thursday night. So this morning, I checked to verify the time, and OOPS! DAMN! it was last night! So much for best laid plans.

Signs of economic hard times: The small restaurant where our lunch group meets on Thursdays is closing tomorrow. The building has been for sale for about six months, with no takers. The owner told us today that their business is down about 60% since the first of the year. These are such nice people, and have welcomed our weird, noisy group. I hate that they're having to close. So now we'll be looking for another place to gather. Getting fairly good food for a reasonable price is always important. But, of course, the main reason we gather is for the camaraderie of these nutty people.

Today's photo is from the Astronomy Picture of the Day. It's of a castle in Nice, France, and the full moon.

 

What consequences?

Health note: Spencer is fine and should be at home now, sleeping it off! The lump was just a fatty tumor. Relief all around.

Last night, I stopped at the KFC near our house to pick up chicken for supper. I saw fire engines at the Dolllar General store across the parking lot, and was told that it was on fire. I couldn't take my usual route home from there, and what usually would take about 3 minutes took more like 20 minutes. What a mess! There was even a line of cars backed up in front of our house. From the news last night and the paper this morning, the story came out that the fire was started by a 9-year-old kid. He was in the store and got angry with his mother. He found some matches in the store and set fire to a package of toilet paper. By daylight, the store is a total loss - contents and building. The roof and walls have collapsed into a pile of rubble.

And now what happens? The 9-year-old is in custody now, and has been charged with aggravated arson and reckless endangerment. What a mess! What do you think? Should the parents face any consequences, other than what happens to the child?

These photos are from the web sites of the Chattanooga Times Free Press and WRCB-TV.

 

 

 

 

Spencer

Today was Friends of the Library Board meeting - which made for a long day. I went in to the gallery at the usual time. Vicki had a new student - a neat old guy, who had been a bush pilot missionary in Alaska and the Northwest Territories of Canada for over 40 years. He wanted to have a teacher to help him learn to paint with acrylics. It was a fun morning with him and her other Tuesday student.

I stayed there until time to go to the Board meeting, which stars at 4:30. This is a good group of folks, who aren't just rubber stamps - they think for themselves. A proposed By-Laws change was up for a vote. There was a spirited pro/con discussion, with a split vote - ultimately in favor of the change.

Granddog Spencer is having surgery tomorrow to remove a fatty tumor from his side. We wish him and his mom well, and will be waiting for word.

 

Happy Birthday, Pink

 

Lydia Russell Wheeler (1908-1983)

Officially Spring

I hope you've had a wonderful weekend - whether you were celebrating Easter, Passover, or the beautiful return of spring. And the return of spring must be official. John has declared it so, and changed to shorts.

Enjoy the spring flowers and trees - even these frostbitten apple blossoms from Kelly Place, Cortez, CO. And we'll hope they don't cause too many allergy problems.

 

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz

We all slept fairly late this morning - just needed some catch-up zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Other than that, we did practically nothing. Catching up on some down-time, too. Jean left after lunch, and then we got naps. I did run the dishwasher, run the oven-cleaning cycle on the stove, and wash a load of sheets and towels. I almost had to go to bed early from all the excitement. I guess we all need a day like this from time to time.

SeniorLearn.org is one of the sites I check regularly. It's a group of book-related discussion. One of the participants recommended What Do I Read Next? is a reading list reference from the Manchester, CT, public library. No specific recommendations from me - just a list of authors and possibilities.

Today's photo is of a flowering crabapple tree at Kelly Place, Cortez, CO. But our flowering crabapples and dogwoods are in bloom now. A Tennessee spring is quite beautiful.

 

It's all about the weather

We've had some terrible storms this morning, starting about 6:30. I didn't even bother to go to the Y, because the pool is closed any time there is lightning. The line raced through, with lots of lightning and thunder, and almost an inch of rain. After that, we had an hour or two of sunshine. Then the afternoon line started up, and left a line of destruction across Tennessee. Two deaths and multiple injuries resulted from a tornado near Murfreesboro (just east of Nashville). Most of the bad damage missed our immediate area, but there are lots of reports of hail and possible tornadoes around here. We got only about 0.1" rain from the afternoon storm. Margaret said that they had hail, but no damage. Even at work, though, they spent some time in an interior hallway.

Allan headed back to NYC. He's going to arrange for movers - two needed - one for his stuff and one from his piano. And the next trip will be his move back.

I fixed a really good recipe from the food section of the paper tonight. It was sort of a quiche/casserole, with eggs, ricotta, spinach, and feta cheese. I decided to add some chicken, too. It was really good.

Dan Miller died on Wednesday. He was the long-time anchor of the NBC affiliate station in Nashville (WSM-TV), and was really a great part of the community. He was a native of Augusta, and was there with friends for some practice rounds of The Masters. He was showing one of his friends various places in town where he grew up. He complained of shortness of breath and weakness, then fell to the ground. CPR and the EMTs were unable to resuscitate him, and he was gone. Near his childhood home, watching the tournament that he loved. He'll be missed.

A late night

Jean came in this afternoon for a couple of days. It's always good to see her. Plus we all got a treat with lasagna for dinner.

We went to the UTC Jazz Band concert after supper and met John & Sylvia. They came to the house afterwards, and it just wound up being a very late evening.

So this is a brief entry, and I'll try to do better tomorrow.

Beautiful Chattanooga Spring

What a lovely spring day it was today! The dogwoods are spectacular, with just enough redbud for contrast. Tulips are starting to bloom, the grass is starting to green up, and the trees are the lovely "spring" green with their new leaves. Today's photo was taken a couple of weeks ago - a crocus - the first look of Spring.

The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes by Bryan Burrough is the new book that I'm sampling on the Kindle. I've just read a little bit, but I'm already liking it - so I'll probably be ordering the entire book.

It was a pretty quiet day today, but the evening included sharing pizza with John & Sylvia at the county estate. It's always fun to spend time with them. We might see them again tomorrow night at the Jazz Band Concert.

Jean will be coming in tomorrow for a couple of days - always a treat!

 

Rag Rug Remnants

I've just finished reading Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America by Linda Lawrence Hunt.

This is a true story of Helga Estby's walk (with her daughter, Clara) from Spokane, WA, to New York City. This would be a remarkable feat at any time. But this was in 1896!!! Helga was a remarkable woman under any circumstances, but this walk was amazing. Her story is a wonderful tale of courage and resourcefulness on her journey, with disappointment at the end.

Helga's adventure was almost lost, until a hint of it surfaced in a school report by her great-grandson. Linda Hunt heard about it and undertook a journey of her own, gathering the threads to bring this story to light.

The underlying theme of this story and book is the importance of Story Keeping. These are Hunt's words to encourage all of us to do a better job of keeping these stories.

The gathering and sharing of the rag-rug of remnants of our family's lives gives a gift to the next generation, a community of memory in a highly mobile world. Through developing written and oral histories, creating scrapbooks, telling stories around a dining table or campfire, displaying photographs and making videos, every family can weave an enduring rug of memories. Capturing the hopes, challenges, actions, disappointments, successes, pains, and joys inherent in every family gives children roots and wings. Other cultures practice the art of storytelling. In the Masai tripe in Kenya, for example, when a person dies, the greatest gift one can give a grieving person is to come and tell a story from the loved one's life. A collage of memories grows, giving the heart solace and healing, and the stories go on for generations. Remembering the past, telling the children the stories of parents' and grandparents' lives, can prove to be a pivotal resource in a young person's life...

 

A Long Monday

Mondays have gotten really, really full. And this one really ended with a bang.

As usual, we started off with swimming and Panera Bread. Then I made a short trip to Walmart. Allan headed off to sign the lease on his apartment, and to meet with a potential (and potentially lucrative) client. We headed out to play bridge. John had terrible cards, mine were "not too bad". Allan had a great meeting, and the guy is now "The Client".

After supper, we went to a concert at UTC - a faculty chamber music concert. This was a super treat! Seven to eight musicians played three selections - in different configurations. The largest grouping was four musicians. What a great concert this was - and it was FREE! These faculty and student concerts are a great service to the community. And there are usually a long list of varied ones near the end of the school year. We'll just enjoy!

Men's Basketball: UNC has had a very easy time winning over Michigan State to win the 2009 National Championship. Congratulations to the Tarheels.

Today's photo is of Dr. Sin-Hsing Tsai (UTC music faculty), one of the main performers in tonight's concert.

 

A very quiet Sunday

I'm going to take a sabbatical today. Hope everybody had a great Sunday.

Saturday

It was a gorgeous day today - definitely a day for garage sales and lawn mowing (not for US, of course) I was one of the jurors for the contest our photography club sponsors for area high school students. Lots of good photos to look at. Plus they gave us lunch - just sandwiches, but good ones. It's always interesting to see what these teenagers "see" - they're SO creative and uninbited.

Allan went apartment hunting today - with the intent of finding a place this week. And he wound up putting down a deposit on an apartment in the same complex he lived in when he was here before. He'll be getting over twice the size of apartment as he has in NYC, for less than half the price. He's got lots of business appointments set up and contacts to meet over the week. So he's really going to make the move - and is looking to be moved here by the end of May. Of course, it's a major step for him, but his living expenses will be SO much less, even considering that he'll have to have a car.

We went out to a local bistro last night - sort of a birthday party/music event. It was mostly fun, but way, WAY too crowded and noisy for our tastes. We left right after the birthday cake was cut. And we'll probably be "otherwise occupied" if any such invitation comes again. We enjoy the people and would like to get to know them better, but any conversation is impossible in those circumstances. You think we might be getting old???? Nah!

The men's basketball final on Monday will be between Michigan State and North Carolina. It should be a good game.

The photo tonight is of one of my paintings called Reflection.

 

Friday

Things were just rocking along, and then we saw the news from Binghamton, NY. What a terrible tragedy for this small picturesque city in New York. We'll keep all those survivors in our thoughts.

Rain, rain, rain

It's rained off and on today, and then a line of severe storms came through about 11 p.m., and we're under a tornado watch. Spring is such fun. And they're even talking about highs in the low 40s the first of next week, with a possible frost.

I got a lot of errands run this morning - pedicure, Publix Grocery store, cell phone battery check, post office to mail federal and state tax returns, Aldi's (special on eggs), then home. And that was before lunch! Whew!

We had only three of our usual 6-7 for lunch today, so it was pretty quiet. And we got haircuts. John took a huge nap. We went to another free concert at the university this evening. Tonight it was a recital with a visiting flutist. We enjoyed the performance. But we realized that the flute is not our favorite solo instrument - even though we love our CD of James Galway playing Scott Joplin. It's not quite the same. There are performances and senior recitals every night for the next 10 days at UTC. We'll probably make some of them.

Allan's due in tomorrow for another week of networking, finding new clients, etc. This trip he's going to be looking for an apartment, and possibly a car. I don't know that he's come up with a target moving date yet, but it seems to be getting closer.

Today's painting is called Rhododendrons #1.