Along Came Irma

More than once, I have described this downsizing-retirement slo-mo-relo move from NC to GA using the analogy of a roller coaster ride (comparable to the Zippin' Pippin*!). As of today, nothing about that analogy has changed. Ahem.

(Still laughing about this Tweet!)

The good news: we got our stuff all moved in 8/31 (in spite of a prolonged visit by Tropical Storm Harvey, who had been wreaking havoc in Texas). Boxes, boxes everywhere. Lotsa boxes. 

We had planned to get Casa 303 all ready for Mr. T to take the dogs with him and stay in the Loganville house while Missy M and I traveled today-Sunday to Walt Disney World (her birthday gift to me!). And we've made great strides toward that goal with our unpacking and setting up: the electricians came and finished the fan installs; the kitchen is now open for business; the beds are set up, the bedding and towels boxes have been located and opened; and the washer and dryer have been hooked up and are operational. All ready, right?

And then along came Irma.

{Sigh}

Missy M (who had taken today off work) has been working since 9:00 this morning to rebook our trip with the least amount of financial loss...and she has done a remarkable job! She was on hold with Delta for over 2 hours and managed to get our flights rebooked for January with NO CHANGE FEES...even on my companion ticket that was set to expire at the end of September! Way to go, Delta! She's now well into her 4th hour on hold with WDW Guest Services (but she has spoken with someone in Reservations who said there shouldn't be a rebooking fee). Way to go, WDW! 

Bottom line: it's an inconvenience, but we are safe and sound and avoiding the chaos that a Cat 5 Hurricane creates. 

Of course, some of the spaghetti models now have Irma skirting the east coast of Florida and then turning north...toward Atlanta! Soooo...Mr. T is currently at the grocery...for bread and milk, of course. Treating the threat of a hurricane just like the threat of snow.

Just one more hill on our roller coaster, right? To recap the ride, so far:

> Decluttering & getting ready for the Great Downsizing Sale = going up the first big hill. 

> Big Sale done! = going down the first big hill.

> Prepping the NC house for putting it on the market = up the second big hill.

> For Sale sign in the yard! = down the second big hill.

> Showing, showing, showing. Waiting, waiting, waiting = clattering along the flat rails.

> Deciding "we have had enough of this! Take the house off the market!" = up the third hill.

> Selling the NC house! = down the third hill.

> Househunting in GA = the loop-de-loop near the end of the ride.

> Finding & "losing" 4 GA houses = up the last BIG HILL.

> Buying the "right" GA house = down the last BIG HILL!

So, now as we come clattering into the station, we are experiencing those last little ups and downs that make all riders go "woo!" as their stomachs attempt to reach equilibrium. We are so close to being able to exit the roller coaster ride and finally get our feet on the ground...and our bodies in our own bed once again. 

So very close...

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*Memphis-area friends of a certain age will remember the Zippin' Pippin roller coaster from the Fairgrounds and Libertyland. It was said to have been Elvis' favorite. Read more about it here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippin_Pippin

It's That Time of Year

The Christmas Waltz song keeps running through my mind today...

Frosted window panes, candles gleaming inside
Painted candy canes on the tree
Santa's on his way, he's filled his sleigh with things
Things for you and for me

It's that time of year when the world falls in love
Ev'ry song you hear seems to say
"Merry Christmas, may your New Year dreams come true"
And this song of mine in three-quarter time
Wishes you and yours the same thing, too

Right.  The candles on our window sills just went off on their timers, as did the Christmas tree, and I'm eating a candy cane as I type. Check, check, and check! But, honestly people, the only way our window panes would be "frosty" today is if I went out and soaped them! I think we may have hit the mid 60's again today, after 72 earlier this week. I don't want to sound all Scroogy, but I hate December weather that feels more like May. Bah! Humbug. Still, I hope that Santa will come our way...even if he has to leave the furs in the North Pole and wear a pair of Bermuda shorts!

Maybe we should be singing my favorite song from The Muppets Christmas Carol...makes me laugh every year when I watch it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwahCM3mC9A. Put me in a better mood, just now.

OK! So, we are a week away from Christmas Day. How are things coming along? Well, I've most of my baking done, as you can see in these pictures of Hello Dollies and Delaware Butterballs; Banana-Cranberry muffins; and star-shaped Sugar Cookie cutouts:

 

 

 

Missy M made a batch of Nana's Nuts and Bolts (our name for Chex Mix) after Thanksgiving...which we consumed in record time. Maybe we can get her to make some more, please. Oh, and I pulled out Nana's recipe for Cheese Ball...simple but always tasty...and made both a cheese ball and a cheese log from the same batch. Must have the savories with the sweets!

We'll have M's Breakfast casserole on Christmas Day; and unless we are entirely too full (again this year), we'll roast a turkey breast with all the trimmings for dinner. Just need to make our traditional coconut cake for dessert...oh, and Monkey Bread for Christmas morning! I'll try to remember to take a picture of the finished product this year before we eat it.

I went to a wreath-making workshop a couple of weeks ago, and now my "masterpiece" adorns our front door. I'm really proud of this effort, because Missy M treated me to a similar workshop a few years ago in Louisville...and I was a complete klutz. This time, I had a better idea of what to do...and what I wanted the end product to look like. Plus, I wasn't afraid to use plenty of pins!

2015 Merry Christmas Wreath: I made it myself at Toms Creek Nursery!

We got the yard decorations out, the Sheepie tree up in the dining room window, and the aforementioned candles in the front bedroom windows:

We even got tickets to the NC Symphony's Holiday Pops, presented at High Point University. That always puts us in a festive spirit!

I've also got my annual newsletter typed, printed, and folded; and the cards are ready to be sealed and stamped (Mr. T's job this year) so we can make the mad dash to the P.O. tomorrow to barely meet the deadline. I do believe I have all my shopping done...and even more importantly, my purchased gifts are all wrapped and under the tree. I have one gift to finish knitting (so what else is new?), which should happen tonight. And then...I can sit back, relax, and enjoy the season, right? Well, it's a plan.

Why am I so far ahead of the game, you ask? Well, everything was accelerated because our Lunn Family Christmas get together was earlier than usual this year, meaning most of the shopping, wrapping, etc., had to be done by December 11. T&LaD drove down from KY, Missy M drove up from GA, and Mr. T. and I drove over from NC to meet up in Nashville last weekend. We had a wonderful time together! Breakfasts at the Bistro in the lobby of our Doubletree; dinner at Coco's Italian Market; and dessert and gift exchange at J&J's house. Superb!!

And we even got to attend "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" at the Opry, with Stewart cousin Scott starring as Old Max (the Grinch's dog...all grown up and doing the narrating for the stage play). He has a fabulous singing voice, which he got to showcase on the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." What a great performance! His dad, cousin Mark, even joined us for breakfast, making it an all-around family weekend. Check out the interview and pictures of SS in character here: http://www.broadwayworld.com/nashville/article/BWW-Interview-Bringing-THE-GRINCH-To-Life-At-The-Grand-Ole-Opry-House-20151130

Missy M will be taking some vaca days next week, so she'll head her Mini up I-85 on Sunday to join us for the Holidays. Her dogs, Ella Rae and Dixie, have been with us since she was here for Thanksgiving (they stayed with us due to her travel schedule in early December). Mr. T., who is still catching up on work after being out for 8 weeks, isn't planning on taking any days off, but neither is he planning on leaving town for business either. It should be a joyful and peaceful approach to the Season.

I do need to head to the grocery store for this n' that, but we aren't making ourselves crazy with last minute preparations this year. It has been so hectic for the past few months (all year, really) that we are relishing a more laid-back approach.

Fingers crossed that we achieve it. Toes, too! After all, it IS that time of year. Right?

+++++++++++++++++++++

Here are a few photos from the past weekend. And don't forget to check out my final post for the year plus pictures, over on our gardening blog. Click here to go there!

Terry joins us for breakfast at the Bistro

Dessert and gift exchange at Jack and Julie's house

Cousins Mark and Scott Stewart with Patricia

Leaving the show...heading to dinner at Coco's Italian Market



Thomas, Julie, and Jack showing off the Christmas Cracker prizes: xylophones and crowns

Sheltering in Place

What a day! We had sleet, then snow, then ice, then more snow last night...three inches of the stuff in the rain gauge. Then this morning brought freezing rain and wind. So you won't be surprised to read that we lost power about 10:00...and are still waiting for High Point Electric to restore it to the Oak Hollow area.  Truly thankful that we had fully charged our phones and iPads overnight, and that Mr. T has a Sprint Hot Spot to give us a WiFi connection and a Power Bank to recharge the Hot Spot. Ain't technology grand?

The ice that was coating the tree limbs was just beautiful...but wicked in more ways than one. First up...the damage that the weight of the ice does to the tree itself as you can see on these photos of the magnolia and a cedar from our front yard.

Next...the after-storm. If you've been to our house, you know we are surrounded by tall, tall trees...and the ice-laden limbs and branches began to start snapping and popping and dropping about noon. The noise it made sounded like rifles firing. A friend posted on Facebook that it sounded like a war zone in her neighborhood! It actually became quite dangerous to go out in the back: if it wasn't a branch, it was an icicle that could bean you! 

I did take some photos with my Canon camera before I realized the peril I was in, and headed back inside to safety. I'll have to wait for power before uploading those to my laptop. Meanwhile, I thought you might enjoy these pix taken out front with my phone. 

You just don't realize how many ways your life is connected to electricity...no pun intended. I have gone into our windowless closet three times today...and flipped the light switch three times. And my bike riding? On hold, since the bike has a computer dashboard for tracking time, distance, etc., which needs electricity of course. And don't get me started on how funny our "so whatcha want for supper" conversation went. (Most of the restaurants in the area are still without power, too; the one we did find open has a wait list of over an hour...and besides, we have been asked to stay off the roads and "shelter in place" for safety. So we decided on sandwiches since we can't cook or reheat anything, unless we fire up the grill...but it's COLD outside!)

Still, don't worry about us. Mr. T got up early, when the first flicker of electricity warned us we might be in for it, and he flipped the wall switch that turned on the gas fireplace, so we have heat. He is heading out to his car to recharge the mobile phones now. We still have two old-fashioned landline models that don't require electricity to work, so we do have access to the outside world. We'll be fine until the power co. cavalry arrives. We have all the bread and milk we need!

And the forecast? Weather wonks are calling for a fabulous weekend: sunny and sixties! Frankly my dears, I'm ready for it!

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Read more about us here: 

http://myfox8.com/2014/03/07/guilford-county-declares-state-of-emergency/

I Heard the Wind Change

I was just finishing up my second cup of coffee this morning. I had fed the pups (who got up extra-early today...bless 'em), read my email, and answered the ones that needed attention. I had just begun to read USA TODAY online. Then I saw the little notification box pop down from the top of my iPad screen: ALERT: Winter Storm Advisory!

What? It's a beaUtiful day...blue skies, sun shining, doggies rampaging through the Way Back with joyful abandon. OK, so it is a bit cold, and the fireplace does feel awfully good this morning. But "winter storm?" You've got to be kidding me.

In less than a minute, I received an instant message from Missy M with a picture attached:

Looks like the Winter Storm had already visited The Ville today! A Facebook posting by a cuz in Portland, TN, showed they had a dusting of snow, too...and another cuz in Memphis mentioned flurries there. 

Granted, the folks in Northern Kentucky probably just shrugged. They had a similar dump of the white flakes just last week, when we got this picture from M...taken the morning after the workers had finished installing her new roof. As I posted on Facebook..."Timing is everything," said Mr. T!

We in HPNC dodged a bullet during that last round of snow-on-the-ground storms, but it appears from the News 2 weather app's "future" feature that we may be in for some kind of precip late this afternoon into this evening. And I just ate the last of the loaf for toast...ha!

Still, I was having trouble connecting what I was seeing out the Morning Room window (blue skies, etc.) with what the weather wonks are predicting. And then...

I heard it. I literally heard the wind change directions. It shifted from southwest to north-by-northwest. Almost simultaneously, both weather vanes...the small one on the garden shed in the back yard and the big "windmill" one in the center of the Way Back that we call The Derrick, screeched in protest as they swung around to point in northerly directions. Wind out of the North? Yep...I think this storm may mean business. 

Forget that third cup of coffee. I'm headed to the grocery. Gotta make the bread-and-milk run!

What a Week!

Happy to report we are still hugging tightly to our little piece of the Earth. With all the wild weather we have been having this week, we could easily have lost our footing and been blown away!

Forget Hurricane Season. (OK, I know we in NC can't actually "forget about it" until November.) This has been Straight Line Winds territory. Clocked at over 40 mph on Monday and an amazing 60+ mph on Thursday, the winds have not been our friends. Throw in some hail and flash-flooding rains, and you got yourself one scary Spring weather combination.

Can you find the low spot in our back yard in this shot? You can also tell that it has been too wet to mow or weed.

And then there is this one from the Row Garden Monday evening. Looks like we are raising the squash and melons (right) and the beans (left) hydroponically. Water, water everywhere...

You may have visited our garden blog, Gardening with the Giants, and read of the Miracle of the Corn: high winds on Monday flattened the entire patch...and then the stalks apparently righted themselves by Thursday...and wonder-of-wonders, they escaped any real damage in Thursday afternoon's storms. Counting our blessings...as well as the coming kernels...:-)

Anyway, we are enjoying an absolutely gorgeous Friday...blue skies, low humidity, lower temps, and no storms in the forecast for today. Hooray!  A mild finish to a wild week. And a perfect day for a drive in the country...or a drive THROUGH the country maybe...:-)

Yes, our plans are to head over the mountains and through the toll booths to Missy M's house we'll go...dogs included. We are postponing our departure by a day since Duche$$ developed some last minute  problems, but thankfully those seem to be abating. Still, we did NOT want to travel with a sick dog...no, no, no!

And we will no sooner get to Looeyvul, when I'll get back in a car and head to TN with Missy M on Sunday. (Mr. T won't be joining us, as his knee can handle just so many miles...and he's over his limit for this week. So, he's been volunteered to be dog-sitter for a day...:-)  We are going to Dickson to Cousin A's 105th Birthday party! Whoopie!!

Now that's an adventure worth shouting about.

It's Raining...It's Pouring...It's Raining Some More...

Do you know when the Atlantic Hurricane Season officially begins? Those of us who live in states that have a coastline know the answer to that one: June 1.  And, it looks like we are going to have an active one, if this week is any indicator. We barely had flipped over the calendar before the weather wonks began with the storm updates.

Here's what our map looks like on the News 2 Weather ap. No Grasshoppers game for us tonight!

The first Tropical Storm of 2013 has arrived and been strong enough to get a name: Andrea. Oh Joy. Of course, she's been a mild one as Hurricane experiences go (remember...we were in NC for Hugo and Fran), bringing only rain to our doorstep.  Buckets and buckets of rain.

Still, I don't see rain as a bad thing. It has supplied the gardens with glorious gallons of H2O..and allowed me to do more inside than out...for the first time in a long while.  I finally got around to cleaning out, rearranging, and organizing my desk, workspace, and bookcase. Made it easier to concentrate on writing. Deep-cleaned our bathroom, which has only received a lick-and-a-promise lately, sad to say...casualty of a gardening obsession. Got the laundry all caught up. Made a 7-Up Pound Cake for Mr. T's return home from DC area.  Even found time for two new eBooks: The Bookman's Tale and The Kingmaker's Daughter.

But, I can't stay out of the gardens completely, don't you know? When we have had a break or two in the showers, I grabbed my camera to take some shots of the fat water droplets on the green and growing kingdom of the Way Back Garden.  I shared these shots over on my other blog, Gardening With Giants, which is why they all have the GWG watermark. No matter...here they are again. Hope you enjoy!

First, the flowers:

Always and Forever rose

Edith Ann daylily

Spanish Lavender

First Zucchini

Now for the veggies:

Goliath (green) tomatoes

How Dry...and Hot...We Are

What a difference a month makes.  I seem to recall that I was whinging about all that rain we were getting at the end of May, beginning of June.  Daily downpours. Weekly wash-outs.  Well, just where is it now, I ask you?  Not here, for sure.  It's starting to look like the Dust Bowl around High Point.  I water the garden twice each day, but it still is parched.

As I headed home yesterday from a short drive to the Post Office, I watched the thermometer in my Lillie Pearl PT Cruiser jump from 98 to 100 as I made the turn from Skeet Club onto Waterview.  Stop the car, as my dear Daddy used to say.  I pulled over to the side of the road to snap the shot, left.  Had to document the occasion, of course. The weatherman said the official high for Piedmont Triad International (PTI:  local airport, serving Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem) was 99, but at 3:47 p.m., it was one hundred degrees in this northwest corner of High Point.

Pardon me while I go get a glass of iced tea.

And, if the heat, humidity, and the lack of rain wasn't enough to make you want to stay near the AC (which is running constantly, night and day), we had a Code Orange air quality alert yesterday.  Over 150 for the first time this year.  Unhealthy for individuals with breathing issues (like N/M/E).  Not to worry, BFF AW braved it all and came over to join N/M/E for a Chat 'n Chew.  I fixed supper trays with scoops of tuna salad (made with apples instead of celery) and bow-tie pasta salad (made with both yellow and zucchini squash from the garden, of course), followed by dessert bowls of homemade vanilla ice cream (which was still tasty after our Fourth celebration).  My job was to keep the Drool Gang otherwise occupied so the Lovely Ladies could enjoy some uninterrupted time together.  It all worked out pretty well, thank goodness.

Speaking of the Fourth...

Missy M and Ella Rae made the long drive to come visit us over the Holiday weekend.  On Saturday, when it was just too hot to do anything else but ride around in an air conditioned car, she and I hopped in Lillie Pearl and headed her toward Hillsborough, NC.  There is a yarn shop there, you see...and they were having a sale.  Yadda, yadda, yadda.  Mother-Daughter Bonding Trip, by any other name.  A good time was had by both!

Sunday was another scorcher.  Limited our activities to after sundown.  Hamburgers and hot dogs and corn-on-the-cob on the grill.  Homemade ice cream with strawberries (a few of which came from the garden, even!).  Topped off with fireworks after dark (first...on TV, from the Capitol Fourth; then, big booms from across the Lake, here in HPNC).  Happy 234th Birthday, America!

On this morning's water-walk (replacing the usual Coffee Walk...too hot...:), I couldn't help but notice the Jubilee watermelon's progress.  Took this snap (left) to compare it to one I took 8 days ago (right).  Yowza!  How it is growing in all this heat is a miracle.  Same goes for the corn, which is tassling and setting ears in the worst week of the season so far.  Wonder if it will survive...much less thrive?  We'll see...

  

I also enjoyed taking a couple hundred snapshots of the butterflies and bees who are enjoying the blooming zinnias and marigolds.  OMG.  I've never seen anything like this!  I took so many photos that I zapped the batteries...which is probably the only reason I stopped taking pictures.  They are so beautiful.  We've always planted borders of zinnias and marigolds around our gardens, and we've had better/thicker flower results before, but I cannot remember when the visitor population has been so spectacular.  It was difficult to pick which ones to show you.

 

 

Weatherman is calling for a slight chance of rain tonight, increasing to a 50% chance tomorrow night.  Fingers crossed.  Toes, too!

Back Home After a Brief Pause

You know, it strikes me as funny.  When I was in Missouri, I mourned for my life in Georgia.  (Nevermind Florida...we weren't there long enough to know whether we liked it or not.)  Now that I'm back in North Carolina (it'll be a year later on this month, can you believe it?!), I grieve for neither MO nor GA.  I'm perfectly happy right where I am.  I don't want to be any place else.

However...

I do still enjoy my "real" job.  I know, I know...I haven't mentioned my work lately.  With good reason.  My coaching business has taken back seat to my caregiving activities, especially since the summer of 2004; then, came all of the move-related activities of last year...and then the 90th birthday party activities of early 2010.  But, my job...as a leadership development coach and consultant...requires me to make a few trips back to ATL each year.  Until '09, each one of those trips was hard to complete, since I just wanted to stay instead of getting on that return flight to STL.  Now...I hop in Lillie Pearl, point her south on Interstate 85, and pop in my latest Audible.com downloads.  Usually, after a week, I've touched base with my clients, taken care of some personal care details, did a little retail therapy, completed a few books and a knitting project or two, and am ready to return to HPNC with joy in my heart.  Happy to be back on the road home again.  The little break helps remind me of what I love to do...and gives me renewed energy to do what I am committed to doing "at home:"  ensuring that N/M/E's final years are comfortable and as easy as possible.

But, the trips are getting harder and harder to complete as planned.  Try as I might, I can't seem to anticipate all that might happen while I am away.  This time, even though strong support was in place (thanks, AW!), a nasty stomach virus still slipped through the de-fence and found a home with Mom.  We're still trying to get that under control.  Sigh. 

Ah well.  I did get to finish a few books enroute to-and-from.  Love my iPod!  I had downloaded Agatha Christie's The Third Girl, read by Hugh Frasier; Knitting by Anne Bartlett; and Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton.  Finished two of the three.  May have to wait for an upcoming jaunt to Raleigh to finish the third.

And, I was able to complete a scarf (dropped stitch pattern) and get started on a pair of socks (chasing cables pattern) while away.  I'll download some photos next time.  I'm currently on battery power, sitting outside on the deck; missing my camera and its cable for downloading the pix.  Love my wireless connection!

And, best of all, Mr. T motored down from working in Columbia, SC, to join me for the brief pause in our lives.  Yes, we needed that bit of a pause.

Out here in the sunshine, with all the roses starting to bloom, it's difficult to imagine all the devastation that's happening to friends and relatives in TN.  As far as I know, all are safe...although not all have power restored yet.  I'm glad to see that the Red Cross has made it easy for us to donate toward the assistance folks will need to restore their lives to normal.  If you can, be sure to take the easy way:  using your cellphone, text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to help with the flood disaster.  You'll be glad you did!

Yes, It Really Does Sound Like a Freight Train

If you've been tuned into the news and/or weather channel(s) this week, you've probably heard our city's name a few times.  High Point was hit by an EF-3 tornado on Sunday night during a wave of severe thunderstorms that dumped nearly 2.5 inches of rain on us during the evening hours.  What a night!

We are among the fortunate.  The worst strike was in area about a half-mile from us, where houses were damaged in several neighborhoods, including Blairwood.  (If you know where we live, you will know how close we are to that area.)  We were watching the constant weather reports (thank goodness we still had electricity), trying to figure out where the danger was, when both Mr. T and I heard the proverbial freight train sound, roaring through the back yard.  We have Duke Energy transmission lines going through the back, so we surmise that the leveled ground...no trees...allowed the sound to be magnified.  Anyway, we hustled N/M/E and the three dogs into the laundry room to wait out the warning...which brought a couple of thoughts to the surface:

1. I never thought I'd say it, but I miss my MO basement.  Basements are rare in this area (although we did have one in our former HPNC home, oddly enough).  But, in the "be thankful for small mercies" category, I'm glad our laundry room is as "large" as it is (relatively speaking, of course) because many who were interviewed on TV reported taking cover in their pantries...or under a stairwell. We had already discussed what we would do in case of a tornado, and the laundry room had been designated as our refuge.
2. I'm glad we no longer are facing tornado activity in the Midwest.  There, with everything being so flat, you have danger all around you for 20-30 minutes or more, after the tornado sirens sound.  Here, it was over almost before we knew it.  Swoop!  The tornado spun out of the thunderstorm, did its destruction, and was gone again.  No more than 5 minutes (for that one).  Of course, this means that you'd better know where the counties and communities are around you...when they mention that a tornado has been confirmed in Welcome, NC, for instance...you need to know how close that is to you...cause it will be on top of you before you have time to look at a map.  Trust me on that last point.

Anyway, yesterday was a day of discovery.  We got the first pictures of the destruction...and were shocked at what we saw.  As we are under a State of Emergency here, and they have asked that we not go into any of the areas just to "take a look," we haven't seen Ground Zero yet.  But, as we were leaving our neighborhood to head to the vet (for Duchess), I snapped this blurry shot across the lake near the intersection of Skeet Club, Waterview, and Kendale...where there was a constant traffic jam caused by the redirected traffic.  The blue tarp on the roof of this house and the raw wood on the tree trunks are a visual indicator of how much destruction can occur in just a heartbeat.

Yes, very fortunate indeed.

Go Cards!

Tonight will be our first Cardinal game of the 2008 season...live one, that is. We bought a ticket package and are excited to see where our nose-bleed seats are this year. We like what are called Infield Terrace seats, which are high-up over home plate on the third base side. We get a great view of the Arch from there! Tonight's opponents..."arch-rival" (no pun intended...:) Chicago Cubs.

Speaking of the Cubs...that made me remember a chuckle I had while at the Grand Canyon recently. I was sitting on a rock ledge on Mather Point overlook (photo, left), enjoying the wonder of it all and trying to stay warm, when a group of tourists approached me to ask if I'd take their picture. Of course, I'm always eager to help out my fellow travellers and asked if their camera was a simple "point & shoot?" When I raised the viewfinder to my eye, I realized that I was looking at 4 "Chicago Cubs" tee shirts and caps! Hmmm. I said: "I sure hope I don't mess this shot up or anything. You might want to know, I live in St. Louis." They looked like they wanted to take their camera back, immediately. I told them not to worry...just move back a little...back, back...that's it, just a little more...oh, you better watch that next step behind you there! Just kidding!!

I was looking at my AZ photos again this week, and I really loved all the colors that showed up in the Canyon pictures I took on Sunday afternoon, April 6. The pictures taken in the late afternoon are so different than the ones I took at sunrise the next day. Amazing!

Hopefully, the weather will cooperate for our baseball outting. It was raining...storming actually...earlier this morning, which prevented me from going to the STL Symphony's Coffee Concert. I truly hated to miss it...as this is one of my favorite treats "to myself, from myself"...but I didn't particularly want to walk the 3-4 blocks from the parking lot to the Symphony Hall in a down-pour. [Nothing like having done your hair and put on some nice shoes & duds (replacing the usual sneakers, jeans and turtleneck/tee), only to have everything ruined by rainwater! And, then to have to sit for a couple of hours in the wet clothing. Um, no thanks.] Oh well...I shouldn't complain too much...lots of folks today are dealing with much worse consequences of the bad weather throughout the Midwest. I just have to worry about whether I should wear a jacket to the game or not...