Bessie's Debut

In honor of the holiday, Dick put Bessie the mannequin on the swing on the riverside deck. We did observe her being noticed, but we didn't see anybody tip over. Most canoers and kayakers are concentrating so hard on making it around the bend that they don't really notice our house or our deck. It was fun though, and Dick said that he plans to put her out on weekends. When she's not on the swing, she lives in Dylan's playroom.

Dick power-washed half of the deck. I made potato salad. We did the Subaru Cruise downtown and watched the billions (millions?) of people who were enjoying the day.

It was amazing to see how many boats were rafting by the beach volleyball courts. We have never seen that many - our estimate was 50-60 boats. The beach was literally teeming with people. The shocking part was that in the new open space created by the removal of the power plant, there were hundreds (dozens?) of cars parked. I'm sure that the PTB never intended that space to be a parking lot.

We visited Mother and took her some potato salad. She's just not really interested in food anymore. Or much of anything.

We went to Memorial Gardens to see the family plots. The flowers this year are red, white and blue - very nice.

We had a picnic - burgers on the grill, potato salad and chips. But we ate indoors because of the heat! (93 degrees)

The Power of a Holiday Weekend

Since we left for the Soo on Friday morning, Traverse City has been transformed!

The traffic is back with a vengeance.

Touristy families are strolling up and down Front Street - cute babies in ball caps and sturdy little ones striding to keep up. There's dining on the sidewalk, and people ambling with cups of ice cream. Folks are walking around in shorts, tank tops and sandals - most of them looking very winter-white!

The weather was perfect this afternoon - warm and breezy - at times a little too breezy!

The marina is practically full for the summer season. Boats were lined up to launch, and there were only a couple of parking places left for trucks with boat trailers.

The bay is a beautiful blue, and the power boats are definitely out there - rooster tails galore - and even one or two jet skis. The State of Michigan has returned to its mooring at the Maritime Academy after its training cruise.

People are sitting on the beach, and the beach volleyball courts are all in use. Summer won't officially arrive for another three weeks, but it's here no matter what.

Summer is here.

Saturday Outline

Up early and over the International Bridge to the Canadian Soo by 8:30 a.m. Here's the beginning of the bridge, and the U.S./Canada border in the middle. The other pictures are from the Event - they're kind of mixed in together - I apologize.

We found seven caches in the Canadian Soo this a.m. (By the way, that city has too many one way streets.)

First cache we found was not much fun - signs everywhere saying private property, no trespassing, etc. etc. etc. That gives you a most uncomfortable feeling. The actual cache site was OK, it was just the surrounding area that made one wary.

We found six caches this morning in Canada. Our favorites were located along the river front. Beautiful, well developed, well used, well maintained.

Have you ever heard of dragon boating?

Back across the bridge to eat lunch (Studebakers), go shopping for goodies, and go to the Historical Tour of Sault Ste. Marie event.

Not one of my best days.

Enjoyed meeting Rattrak, Kay, and the caching couple from Manitoulin Island.

Enjoyed talking to Victory Mike, Trashcan, Captain Bud and First Mate.

Most fun was the Historic Tour. UsTwo teamed up with us, and we had a great time. They know their way around the Soo.

Food, other events, other attendees, weather (windy, chilly) - as Thumper said, If you can't say something nice...

Could just be that I was having a bad day.

Onward and Upper Peninsula

The Mighty Mackinac - Our bridge crossing - the beginning, the middle, and the end: the view from the U.P. Toldja it was hazy.
Here's just an outline of our day - just so I don't forget some details. I can upload pictures and flesh it out a bit later. (Maybe)

Breakfast - Omelette Shoppe

Raining and foggy. Rain stops just in time for caching.

Kalkaska - 3 caches

Grayling - 3 caches - at one of them (Goose Creek) we met up with Team Coychev. Victory Mike and his sister- Two presidents of MiGO! Dick said he didn't know whether to log it as a multi or an event!

Lunch at Spike's

It's now a beautiful, sunny, warm, blue sky kind of a day. We lucked out.

Frederick - 1 cache

Gaylord - l cache

South side of Mac Bridge - 1 cache - a really dumb one - the man eating clam

Over the Bridge we go. I took 14,000 pictures, and it isn't even a good picture taking day - too hazy!

North side of Bridge - 1 cache

Drive to the Soo

Check into Quality Inn, where we're staying free for two nights using our frequent customer points.

Drive through the Soo looking for dinner.

Decide on Abner's, near the motel.

Sadly, remind me to tell about my sparerib dinner.

Return to motel - eat my boxed grilled cheese sammy.

Dick logs all ten finds - it's not easy when you're so tired.

I'm reading a good book, Distinguished Guest by Sue Miller.

Decide to take shower and wash hair tonight because of bug repellent I used so liberally today!

Dick's finished logging, his turn to read - my turn with the laptop. We love WiFi.
Having fun reading logs of the teams who have finished the S2S series. It is most enjoyable!

OK, that's my outline of today. More later (maybe).

The Soo & Memorial Day

The flowers came from Pine Hill, and the large pot came from our front porch. - The smaller pot, which has been there for seven years, doesn't hold enough in my opinion. So now we're all set for Memorial Day. We're planning to visit the other cemetery on Monday.
Mother was really good today - she seemed more peppy than usual, although peppy is not really the right word.

We're leaving in the morning for Sault Ste. Marie. There's a geocaching picnic on Saturday, and it sounds like the weather will be perfect.

We Measure Up

Today Bruce came and measured our counter tops for the Silestone. In case you're thinking tape measure, let me tell you, he measured it with something very high tech involving tripods and such. When he left after two hours, he took our new sink, and the installation instructions for our cooktop with him and told us he would also need the new faucet when it comes in. I'm just hoping we get everything back!

Got a perm - Trina's getting married a week from Saturday - she's highly excited (naturally).

T.C. to Oscoda to T.C.

Here is my best friend, the Geo-Addict - all decked out for a day in the woods - complete with gaiters. I love the picture because it shows the woods so well, and you can even see the trail winding off intriguingly into the distance. This was at the South Branch Trail Camp.

We intended to spend the entire day finding the S2S caches, beginning in Oscoda. But due to a glitch in the final cache combo lock, we had to start out back at Hopkins Creek. Thanks to Photobug2 (our Beta-tester) who did the entire 16 cache series (300 miles) on the first day that it was published, we knew that the combo lock wasn't programmed correctly. As Dick said, Kudos to Photobug2 !

We found nine caches today, beginning in Oscoda around noon, and ending at 7 p.m. near Luzerne. We had a Subway dinner in a park in Grayling, and got home around 9:30. Dick actually stayed up and logged all of the finds - I went to bed before he did - a rare occurrence.

Mother reported that Jenny's mother is training to become a caretaker as well. It seems that Ann is going to have surgery and will be gone for several weeks. I'm glad they're adding some new helpers.

Spring Cleaning

Dick worked at the Agency. I'm "spring cleaning" some drawers and cupboards, aiming at eventually cleaning out the pantry so we can put kitchen items in there while the kitchen is being re-done.
Jim came with the sink today, so we're ready to have the counter-tops measured. Traverse Tops took our down-payment (50%) over the phone, and the measuring man will come Wednesday morning to do his thing. Then they say that it will be another 3 to 4 weeks before installation. I'm hoping it will be sooner rather than later.

Dylan Patrick

We visited Mother - she's fine. We discussed events at the residence - who's in the hospital or out of the hospital, and the caretakers both familiar and unfamiliar. She was interested to hear about Chip making the sno-cones for Jessica's birthday party, the progress of our kitchen project, and how does our garden grow. She's less interested in hearing about downtown, the bay, and how T.C. is booming. She's always interested in hearing about things at her former house. We met Jenny, a young mother of 4 who is a new caretaker.

href='http://app.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/2463/'>

This is an experiment!  Tabblo is a new photo site that lets you upload pictures and arrange them in a "Tabblo".  Naturally, I'm experimenting with pictures of Dylan (and Kyle).  Supposedly I can upload this whole page to blogspot - I really want to see if that will work!

Left is Dylan at the Ocala National Forest where they went camping during Spring Break.

Below are the same pictures I've already put on the blog, but I know I'll be happy to see them there again (if this works).

Crossing my fingers, here goes....

 

 

... See my Tabblo>

Cattle Track

First order was a trip to the dump the dump the dump in Marco. Drove around town, did the Marco Explore, and went out to Elmwood Beach to look at a new cache put out by Fossil Finder. It was a cute hide - we really enjoyed it - and we were the first to find!

Back at home we traded cars and took the Subaru to Cattle Track. At Hopkins Creek we set out the final stage of the S2S series, so now that's finished. Off to Lake City to find one that we couldn't get previously because men were working on the top of the water tower, and we would have been in plain sight. Have to watch out for those muggles!

Flush with success we headed to Cadillac and found four more before heading home. We had to post a DidNotFind at the band shell in the lakeside park because people were preparing for a wedding there. I feel really sorry for the bride because the wind off the lake was strong and chilly. I'm sure that's not what she had in mind for a May 20th wedding. Later on, at 7 in the evening, we had a torrential downpour here at home, and we were both thinking of that poor bride - hope she had a backup plan.

It's Nice to be Remembered !

Just about a year ago, on May 22, 2005, we went to an NMG meet and greet here in Traverse City and met some really nice people. This is my blog from that day:

This morning the Northern Michigan Geocachers had a Meet and Greet at the Flap Jack Shack. It was a smaller group, but we had a great time - met some new people, and had good conversation. It was especially fun meeting Petoskey Stones from San Jose(Scott), and Omena Couple(Stuart). We got some good ideas, and lots of new stories to tell.

Yesterday Dick got an email from Scott (The Petoskey Stones, or TPS) saying that he was back in town visiting his parents (Omena couple) and that he had brought us a geocoin and left it in a light pole at Tom's West Bay and gave us the coordinates.
Scott is a software engineer/manager from San Jose, California.
This is Dick's morning to work at the Visitor Center, so I took the GPS and went to get the coin. There was a muggle lurking about, so I ran some other errands first and then returned and picked up the package. It turned out to be two coins - the large one is The Geocachers of the Bay Area coin. It's different because it appears to be cracked and skew-jawed. On the back it says "Earthquakes make 'em all 5 stars." I assume that means level of difficulty. The smaller coin is a trackable California Poppy micro coin - very cute, but impossible for my limited photographic ability! It was so great of Scott to remember us and to bring these coins for us from California. Here's Dick's letter of thanks:

Hey Scott,
Of course we remember you, if for no other reason that because you have successfully integrated Geocaching with a Mac. If you had a couple of hours, I could relate the comedy of errors involved in integrating GSAK, Palm, a Garman and a Magellan with XP Media Edition. It works now but only after two house calls and three trips to the shop.
Many thanks for the coins. Nancy picked them up while I was doing my Visitor Center thing. She had to go back a couple of times because some guy was hanging out right next to the post waiting for someone. We owe you. We have an extra 2006 TC Winter Convergence coin if that would interest you. It is the oldest continuous social activity in Michigan. Picture a picnic in a snow storm with a 20° windchill.

Again, many thanks,
Dick and Nancy of
Basswood Bend

I visited Mother, and showed her the pictures of Dylan. We had a nice conversation, and a good visit. I tried to explain the Shore to Shore GeoChallenge to her, but she just shakes her head. I told her about the riding/hiking trail, and she said I should get a horse. We had a good time.
We took the T shirt art to Chris at Britten Banners, and I think this project is going to work out well. He'll email us the designs he comes up with.

In Which Dylan Gets an Award

Laurie sent pictures of Dylan receiving his National Physical Fitness Award - two of the pictures were taken at the presentation - it was inside, and the quality is poor but I don't care! The other two show Dylan and his friend Kyle humoring the grown-ups. Cute kids. Dylan is in the gray shirt - he's the cutest one! He can't help himself.

Steady drizzle all day today. The temperature hovered around 42 degrees so it was a cold, cold rain. We've had enough rain now - no more fire danger for us! The river is full, but not really threatening to flood.

Lilies of the Valley and Cold Pears

Ambition,
Feeling good,
Time to cultivate.
Literally.
Laundry also.
RBS brings me a shiny new cultivator,
and lilies of the valley.
He mows the grass,
I scratch the garden.
He uses the trimmer
which needs a new wheel.
I load the dryer.
Break for lunch,
Cold pears
Hit the spot.
The plumber calls,
I scratch the garden some more.
The tractor mower breaks,
So he fertilizes in the rain.
I fold the whites,
Put darks in the dryer,
Watch the show,
Come upstairs to compute.
Computing when it's raining
Is no-fault.

Shore to Shore Meeting

On the left: Susie, Tim, James, Nancy On the right: Paul, Denise, Sheryl, Dick

Here are the eight creators of the Shore to Shore Geo-Caching Series. We met at the Holiday Inn in Grayling to solidify our plans, compare ideas, and synchronize our watches (not really). James and Sheryl, Basswood Bend, dpbotkin and DinoDuo are the creators, schemers, plotters and planners. It was a productive meeting and I think we're about ready to get the whole thing approved. Dick has been putting in a lot of time on this project, and he has a right to be very proud of how it's turning out.



Tim, Paul, Dick and Sheryl

We found 5 caches on the way home. The weather cooperated. After dodging a few raindrops, it turned out to be a gorgeous day.
Here's how Dick described our day:

Cache Logs
May 16 by basswoodbend (950 found)
After a luncheon plotting with our partners in crime finalizing the latest and greatest Geocaching Challenge the state has ever seen, shore to shore, 14 caches, 300 miles, First finders commemorative T shirts to the first 10 to complete it, we chased down a few caches on the way home.

Thank you Barb and Sharon !

Jim Beam (no kidding) the plumber came to test our water first thing this morning, and said he would have the results for us on Monday along with advice for choosing our new filtration system.

Then we gathered up our gps's, loaded caches, and log book and set off to place them. For the Shore to Shore series we placed three containers for two caches - one in Empire, and two at Garey Lake (it's a multi). Then we went over to Benzie to put out our "just for fun" cache at Turtle Lake. I'm especially proud of this one - it's a nice location, and it should be an easy find. It's very "turtley". I'm expecting it should be approved sometime tomorrow.

Sharon is in town for the weekend to spend Mother's Day with Barb while Jim is in Texas. We met them for dinner at the Freshwater Lodge, and we had a great time catching up on all of the news. It's so much fun hearing about all of the kids and grandkids, and various friends and relations. They surprised us by treating us to dinner, when we had actually planned to be the treaters! It was a wonderful way to end the day, and I really appreciated the Mother's Day card and treat - Thank You Barb and Sharon!

Sharon and Barb 

Our New Sink

Our New Sink 

This is the sink we ordered today. It's by Elkay. The one we ordered is oriented just like this one. Ours has a deeper bowl on the left, and it will have the disposer installed on the right bowl. We bought strainers too, and a great faucet with a pull-out sprayer, and a new In-Sink-Erator.

Visited Mother - she seems fine - she needs some diversion, but she rejects every suggestion. Betsy thinks we should try to get her out more - at least out of her room and down the hall - but she always resists. My philosophy has been to just let her do what she wants, but maybe I should be more pushy about it. I don't know what to do - I can't really see forcing her to do things at this stage in her life. I just do what I can by visiting and bringing her flowers and managing her affairs. She always says she doesn't want anything and doesn't need anything and seems annoyed knowing that I have gifts for her for Mother's Day. But she always likes what she gets. It's a dilemma for me - after she's gone I'm going to wonder if I did everything that I could have done - but I do realize how lucky we are to have her in a nice place with constant care. And we're also lucky that she's not at all demanding, as some old people are. I just want to do right by her.

Jim Beam

That's the name of our plumber! No kidding! We're just so glad to have a plumber, and he seems like a very nice person - we enjoyed talking to him. He's with Bob's Furnace, Heating, and Plumbing.

We have an appointment with Michelle at Ferguson's tomorrow to order the sink, faucet, strainer, recirc. pump, filtration, system and who knows what all. This is all new to us - where you have to have an appointment to buy a sink. Cheesh.

That Sinking Feeling

Do you think putting in a new countertop and kitchen sink is easy? Think again. Picking out the countertop and the installer was the easy part. The hard part is getting the sink - On line maybe? From Home Depot maybe? It seems that the first thing we need to get is a plumber. At every showroom the question was "Who's your plumber?" The days are gone where you buy a sink at Lowe's and have the local plumber put it in. There are showrooms requiring an appointment, wholesale showrooms, retail showrooms, suppliers who only work with contractors, suppliers who only work with plumbers, lists of plumbers, and no guide for beginners.

Did you know that to buy a sink you have to figure out what dimensions you want, what shape you want, how deep you want it, what gauge you want, what finish you want (stainless or Corian for example), how wide you want it, drop in or undermount, and blah blah blah. Then, you think you're on top of things because you have selected one sink out of dozens. But wait - did you think that a sink came with a faucet? Or a drainer/strainer? Wrong. Evidently a faucet is an accessory which can cost just about the same as the sink! And the drainer/strainer recommended for our sink is around &50. Give me a break!

OK, so say that you've selected a faucet and a strainer....(which hasn't happened yet). Then you have to decide which disposal you want, whether you want a recirculating pump in your water system for hot water, or a booster tank under the sink. All set, right? Wrong. How about filtration for our well water. System filtration, or localized...blah, blah, blah.

OK, so say that everything is selected - it all has to be ordered, and you have to wait for it to arrive. Not until then can the countertop people come and make a template for cutting the new Silestone countertop. Then you have to wait for that job to be completed.

Wait! We still haven't interviewed any plumbers, although we have a list of 25 or so to choose from. We have recommendations for four of them. Then there will most likely be a wait for the plumber to become available to get under the new sink and hook everything up.

Don't get me wrong - I'm thrilled to be updating our kitchen. But I just never expected such hassles and hoops. I like Nike's motto - Just Do It. Right now our motto is Just Deal With It.

UPDATE: 9 P.M.
I'm calling this Hit the Deck, or Why We Went Out To Dinner Tonight. Dick wrote:

I haven't fired up the wok since last fall. I have a special propane hot plate out on the porch that I use with the wok. It is much hotter than the inside burner and, since it's outside, it doesn't smoke up the house. Nancy purchased some beef, asparagus, broccoli and other suitable veggies and at about 6 I went down to chop stuff up. The beef I cut up in to bite sized pieces and marinated in a mix of oil, vermouth, soy, and stir fry sauce and put it in the fridge. After I had the veggies chopped, I assembled everything on a tray and took it all out to the porch. I heated the wok and added the oil.
I did the beef first, there wasn't that much, just enough for the two of us so I did it all in one batch. It cooked up nicely and I wanted to return it to a dish while I cooked the vegetables so it wouldn't become overdone. Keep in mind that this is the first time I've used the wok since November and there are some operations that I've forgotten. This wok was new last year and has two handles, one is the traditional wooden hand grip and the other is like a fry pan handle. I picked it up by the fry pan handle and was maneuvering it to empty the meat into a dish when the handle spun and dumped the meat on the cement!
Since we are not vegetarians, we went out to dinner.

I was just glad it was him and not me!

Windfall Day

This day started out like any other day - dishes, laundry, vacuuming, computer games - and then Dick suggested going out to lunch! From then on, it was an ideal day, a lucky day, a real windfall of a day!
Here we are eating lunch al fresco at Amical. I felt a little under-dressed and under-coifed, but it was very pleasant. Dick had a good time watching people parking on the street, or attempting to park! The Asian Chicken salad was very nice - spicy and delicious. The dressing was very gingery.
Traverse City's own "bistro"!
Then we were off to Walton Junction for some cache maintenance. People have been reporting that they think the cache is missing, so we had to check it out. This cemetery sign is a bit optimistic - it would lead you to believe that the cemetery has been updated and refurbished when in reality there's nothing there - no headstones, mounds, plots, fences or anything. The area is outlined with stones, and that's the extent of the updating! Anyway, it's an interesting place to put out a cache.

It's a little alarming to be in the woods when everything is so dry. Our area is under a red flag warning from the National Weather Service because fire danger is extreme until we get some rain. The leaves are really crunchy, and the trails are very dusty - it's obvious that rain is badly needed.
Basswood Bend himself, engineering a replacement Walton Junction cache container.
This windblown tree is quite near the cache site, so Dick thinks that the cache just blew away in a big windstorm. It definitely was missing.
This large branch is more evidence of recent windfall.

From Walton, we went to find the Greenwood cache. Dick couldn't remember the hint at first, but with some nagging from me, he came up with enough of the hint so that we were able to find the cache.
We attempted to find the "Splatacular Cache". We had to log a DNF (Did Not Find), but the scenery was worth it.

Geocaching is a great motivation to drive these obscure, intriguing North Woods roads, cache or no cache!

T.C. Travelogue

During our Subaru Cruise today we stopped to look at this new sculpture at the marina. It's in a beautiful new setting - a big brick circle with plantings along the TART. It's a nice addition to the waterfront.



Front St. looks so beautiful with the trees in bloom. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It's gorgeous.


The new fountain in the Jay Smith Walkway has been turned on. It's small, but very pleasant. It will be beautiful when the flower beds are planted. In the background you can see the pedestrian bridge over the river. To the right (East) of the fountain there will be a new downtown pizza place - Pangea's Pizza. In addition to the indoor restaurant, they'll have a walk-up window on the street for buying pizza by the slice, and a small area for eating outdoors - not to mention the whole new mini-park right next door with lots of seating, complete with fountain! We met Phyllis, the owner, who was busy painting the interior, but was very willing to tell us all about it. They'll have a liquor license which will allow them to sell drinks on the premises, and also to sell six packs to go. She was an interesting person - very ambitious - and we wish her well. I predict the little walkway will be very busy this summer with Kilwin's on one side and pizza on the other!



Off to Concord Place for our ritual Sunday afternoon visit with Mom.



We took her some sweet-smelling flowers from the yard.

Science vs. Religion Steigerwise

Dick sent the article at the link above to the family.

On May 5, 2006, at 3:49 PM, Dick Steiger wrote:

"Religion needs science to keep it away from superstition and keep it close to reality, to protect it from creationism, which at the end of the day is a kind of paganism - it's turning God into a nature god. And science needs religion in order to have a conscience, to know that, just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do." (See link above)

Here is Tom's response, which I think is very rational and well thought out. I agree with Tom. We're all of the opinion that religious fanaticism is responsible for most of the grief in the world.

I reject the proposition that religion provides a conscience. "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" is a brilliant moral principle, but it is NOT a religious moral principle. It is a humanist moral principle. Note that it is not "Do under others as God would have you do unto others."

The basis of the Golden Rule is that we can't know the minds of others and so we can't know how they would want to be treated. So the best we can do is to recognize that we are all human and use ourselves as a model to predict the wants of others. It is this recognition of our common humanity - with all of the emotional baggage that entails - that gives the Golden Rule its power, not some blind groping toward an unknowable supernatural force.

If you examine them closely all worthwhile moral principles in the end make no reference to God and are inherently humanist in nature. Religion actually impedes the development of a moral conscience. No one will ever come to the rational conclusion, based on humanist moral principles, that the right thing to do is to crash an airliner into a building, or shoot a doctor at a women's clinic, or celebrate at the funerals of American soldiers, or start a nuclear war in the Middle East etc. etc. etc. ad nauseam.

The bottom line is that science doesn't need religion for anything. Human compassion tells us that just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do. Religion tells us not to eat shrimp and to kill our children.

Morning in My Home Town

Subaru to Marathon Automotive to remove snow tires...
Breakfast at Randy's Diner...
It's a male-dominated diner...
They do allow females to eat there...
But not many come..
Cruise down Front St, which is absolutely beautiful...
Lined with blossoming trees...
Drive past the Bay, which is totally flat...
Hardly a ripple...
Sometimes we say it looks like a mirror...
This morning it looks like ice...
It looks like you could skate on it....
Stop at the Visitor Center to ask Kathee about plumbers...
She likes Bob's Furnace or D&W...
Off to Home Depot to discover what kitchen sinks we like...
Home Depot is not my favorite place...
I get claustrophobic in the way back where there are no windows...
And no natural light...
We were disappointed in their displays of sinks and faucets...
(When Friendi drove past Home Depot for the first time...
Branches obscured the sign...
He thought it was Bomb Depot...
You have to be from Albania to think that...
Now calling it Bomb Depot is a family joke...)
Stopped at Hallmark to get cards...
Kristen is graduating from MSU...
Graduations cards were so nice I couldn't decide...
So I bought two...
And a Mother's Day card for Mom...
Off to Lowe's to continue our quest of discovery...
Kitchen sinks at Lowe's are also in the farthest reaches in the back of the store...
Lowe's has better sink and faucet displays...
We think we know what we want...
Stopped in at the Riverside Resale store...
Dick wants a desk in his bedroom...
Nice rolltop, but it needs repair...
We negged it...
Noticed a Kohler plumbing showroom on S. Airport Rd...
We'll stop in there on our next outing...
Dropped Dick off to pick up the Subaru...
Went to the scrapbooking store...
Such delight...
I walked around the store with a silly smile on my face...
One of life's great pleasures...
Choosing papers, stickers, ribbons, and embellishments...
Opposite of Bomb Depot.

Emanuel Swedenborg

Talking with Mother today, I mentioned that whereas her Father had been very churchy, her Mother was just the opposite. Mom related that her Mother never went to church, and never attended church functions, but that Grandpa was very understanding and never reprimanded her because of it. Then Mom said she remembered her Mother reading Swedenborg in the evening. He seems to have been a 17th century genius - I'll be interested to learn more about him. See link above.

Notable persons influenced by Swedenborg include Johnny Appleseed, Honoré de Balzac, Henry Ward Beecher, William Blake, Elizabeth and Robert Browning, Thomas Carlyle, S. T. Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Inness, Henry James Sr., Carl Jung, Allan Kardec, Helen Keller, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Joseph Smith Jr., Coventry Patmore, August Strindberg and Jorge Luis Borges.

And my Grandmother, Mary Blanche Rice Geib (MBRG).

Blue Tractor?

Gorgeous weather - the lilacs are ready to burst into bloom. The daffodils are hanging in there still, and the tulips are such a brilliant red that they look fake. Dick mowed the yard for the first time today - looks great - the tractor works.

Speaking of tractors, I heard on WTCM this morning that Dill's has been purchased, and its new name will be something like The Blue Tractor Cook House. Seems like a weird choice, doesn't it? Can't wait to see it it's true.

Time to take off the snow tires. We think it's safe now! Did Marco today, and doing the Subaru tomorrow. Visited Mother - she seems good - took her some more Tylenol for Arthritis - she likes it and it seems to work for her. We talked about Dylan and the old days when she was a child. I got her a couple of nighties for Mother's Day (which will be in a couple of weeks). I think she'll like them.

We did a Subaru cruise - downtown is beautiful with the trees blooming. The cherry orchards are blooming too - it's a nice time of the year.

Blog Withdrawal

I'm still having blog withdrawal...just don't feel like writing everything down. Today...Alden, Wild Onion, found 1 cache, beautiful day, feels like summer.
Moussaoui sentenced to life in prison, Tiger Woods' Dad died.

My favorite quotation:

For Everything There Is a Season

For every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.
From Ecclesiastes
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Another version, just as lovely:

Artist: The Byrds Lyrics
Song: Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season) Lyrics

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time of war, a time of peace
A time of love, a time of hate
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time of peace, I swear it's not too late!

Tuesday

Here's an outline of our day: Breakfast with Tim and Susie at the Hard Luck Cafe; found the Jars of Clay cache; we split up - I went home, they went caching all day and found 5 or 6 together; we went to see how the National Guard folks were doing, didn't see anyone. Got a nice phone call from Civilian. Watched Gilmore Girls.

May Day

Cut some daffodils for Mother - put them in a pretty vase and delivered. Had a nice visit.