Blogging, Camping, Baking

A few days ago, while discussing my blog with someone, I said the great thing about having a blog was that it is written in real time making the observations current with the date and time. Mostly that is true, but sometimes when I am writing about a trip, for instance, a week or two may pass before I finish the story. Speaking of which, it was Christmas, 2006, when Bruce gave me a digital camera for Christmas, one of those gifts that change your life for the better. I can still remember opening that gift, being shocked, and my first reaction was that I didn't need it, nor could I see the tiny screen! How wrong I was!! Because Matt was home for Christmas, he and I went to Leu Gardens so he could show me how to use it, including what "menus" were for. I'd no idea at the time! 

And here we are nearly 14 years later and hundreds of thousands of photographs later, and darn if I'm still not at it almost every day! The blog, I began with Matt's urging, in early February of 2007.  Again I had not the faintest idea of what I was doing; apparently I've learned along the way. How long will I keep it up? Who knows, but one thing I do know is that once I have passed away, my children will most definitely have a record of their parents lives, which as I ponder that thought, perhaps is a gift itself. 

Okey dokie, where were we? Manatee Springs is where. 

Firstly, one of the reasons that we came home a day early is two fold. One, I was a tiny bit worried about the tree having enough water, and two, I really needed to get my Christmas cards out. I know, to some that is an old fashioned idea, but heck, I'm an old fashioned lady! And if this year has taught us anything, it is that we cannot take relationships for granted!

I told you it was a tree for two rooms! Amazingly, it has dropped very few needles and we are but days away from Christmas. A few friends have stuck their head in the door for a look and they all say, the size has to be seen in person to be fully appreciated.

While on the topic of decorating, Bruce put up my Christmas bunting in a new place this year and it is making me very happy indeed.

Now we are back to camping...

I had a bit of a fail with one of the meals I prepared for our dinner one night. Because the Shepards Pie was so successful, I thought I'd make a version of Chicken Pot Pie this time. Making the filling at home before we left, I envisioned a hot, comforting meal in the cold weather. While the hot part worked out fine, having never used biscuits for a topping I had no idea that they would be a soggy mess that had to be scraped off as it was decidedly unappetizing as served.  The chicken part was pretty good though. 

As it was so cold that night, instead of trying to stay warm by the fire, Bruce arranged our chairs in the tent with the heater going full blast. We had loads of fun playing Yahtzee, in spite of him winning two out of three!

The morning that it was below freezing, I put on my coat and boots over my pajamas (!) and got on my bike to ride to the spring and river. No folks were around to see me in case you are wondering. Some might call them smarter as they stayed in their warm RVs, however, they missed out on some amazing scenery because the warm water in the run produced an ethereal landscape. 

Imagine my surprise when I got to the end of the boardwalk and the same held true for the river! It seems fitting that there was a perched vulture alongside the dock as they are so numerous in that park.

Quiet and still, it was magical. If you read my last post , this scene looked entirely different. Isn't that just  astonishing to think of? God is a magician. 

According to the stats I have access to, not many folks did read that last post, so here's what the same scene looked like a few hours later. I stand in awe...

Late Wednesday afternoon, a MINI came by hauling the neatest little camper that you could ever imagine. Naturally, after a bit, Bruce went down to visit and find out if the man had made it which indeed he had. With his four year old granddaughter in tow (no pun intended), he'd driven from Maine to take her camping!!! As we were packing up to leave, they walked down to have a chat. She was adorable and chatty with me as the men talked. I'd gotten my hairbrush out to use and she said she'd like to do it for me. While doing so she asked if I had some boo boos on my face, or was it my skin? Out of the mouths of babes!! Seeing my camera she asked if I'd take her picture and you don't have to ask me that question twice. Of course I will.

Honestly, she was like a little doll. Eventually they left and after finishing our packing, we drove out of the camping area, getting not very far when I realized that I'd not taken a photo of the camper so we turned around and headed to their campsite. She was thrilled to see us again. The camper is made of wood and holds a queen size mattress as well as having a kitchen in the open back. So neat!

You do meet some nice folks while camping. Three brothers set up next to us, talking the night away as two were from out of state, but gathered for camping before heading to St. Pete for their Mom's 96th birthday celebration.

This Christmas season's gift giving has been a bit of a challenge for me, well really it has been so weird, but one thing I'm still doing is baking and sharing. My standard sugar cookies were a hit with the pickleball clan one chilly night.

Then I made some coconut macaroons from an old recipe of our Moms. Yesterday afternoon I began making Bruce's mother's gingerbread using some adorable measuring cups and spoons from Nancy.

Aren't they the cutest?? Chilling the dough is mandatory so I got back to it this morning. It takes FIVE cups of flour and makes a ton of cookies, some of which will go to friends and some to the freezer. This time I gathered the dough into a big fat log shape to chill and when it was time for rolling, I used the bread knife to cut off a big slab. This dough is a breeze to roll.

So, I may be able to blog, take photographs and bake, heck I can even camp in freezing weather, but one thing I cannot do well is decorate cookies!! I tried though.

These days most folks would have gone to Google, but I am not most folks, as you may have guessed by now. These conversation pieces do taste good so there's that. I've had this bag thing for ages, never using it until today. Maybe that's why it has been in the drawer for all these years. Because I knew better?

Well, did you see the conjunction? While we did see two dots in the sky, I can't say it was as neat an experience as I'd hoped. But then again, we did not have a telescope as did one of Patti's neighbors who allowed her to see it for herself. According to her, it was amazing. If you haven't seen any photos, here's some from folks that know what they are doing.

I will say the sunset was pretty darn good!

And that, my friends, is it for this installment of Camera Crazy; I've got clothes to fold which would have been nice had that chore been done earlier but those cookies....they took forever!!

your friend,

Gail

p.s. It has been chilly this week and the forecast is for a cold Christmas. Very unusual for what isn't this year?

A Short Cooking Lesson

I love to share new cooking ideas with you, so here's the latest thing I've tried. Now there may be some amongst you that have no interest in preparing caramelized onions, and if that's the case, I suggest you skip most of this post. It was only in the last five years or so that I became aware of this humble little delicacy. Humble in the sense that onions are fairly cheap, or at least they used to be, groceries costing what they do these days. Preparing them the traditional method by using a large pan on the stove top, stirring for up to 45 minutes until they become just the perfect shade of caramel is somewhat tedious. Voila! Through the magic of the internet, I've tried a new, more streamlined method. It still takes forever, however, you dear reader/cook, will spend a much shorter time stirring. Using a cast iron skillet, I filled it to the brim:

 

They look a bit shiny don't they? Mixing about 2 Tablespoons of Oil (use what you like), as well as 1 T of salt into them with my fingers, I covered the pan and placed it in a 400 degree oven with the timer set for 15 minutes. Timer goes off, open door, slide out pan a bit, and stir. Repeat 15 minutes later. And repeat again. By now the onions should be shrinking dramatically, leaving a bit of liquid in the bottom of your pan from all that steaming. I removed the lid and baked about 10 minutes longer. If, by now, they still aren't the color you're looking for, place them on the stove top and stir over low heat until they are. Or, at least that's how I did it. Here's how I like them to look:

 

Not overly attractive, but oh so delicious! A week ago Sunday, Kathy gave me a gigantic fresh cabbage from their garden. Hmmmm.......what to make with it? Once again, through the magic of Google, what I thought might be a crazy idea, turned up here: New York Times  So, I whipped up some tart dough, and here's what was for dinner:

Not quite as pretty as their version, but tasty nonetheless. Speaking of cooking, when I read this recipe in that 1933 Better Homes and Gardens cookbook I told you about, I laughed SO hard I nearly cried. Listed under the appetizers,

Mushroom Cocktail

Use 6 small mushrooms for each cocktail. Drop the mushrooms, with about 1/2 inch stems into boiling water and cook slowly 15 minutes. Add 1/2 t of salt just before removing from the water. Drain and chill the mushrooms thoroly (sic). Divide 1 cupful of tomato catsup among 6 cocktail glasses, which are set on plates beside crisp lettuce leaves on which the mushrooms are arranged.

What do you think? Didn't know you were getting two recipes did you? 70 years from now I expect someone will laugh at my cabbage and onion tart.

Mary called on Friday. What a delightful conversation we had, veering all over the subject map. One of the reasons she called was to quiz me on blogging. Which reminds me, with little fanfare, my last post was #800. Seems like only yesterday it was 700! My how time flies when you're having fun!

Anyway, she had all sorts of excellent questions, but it was her last few which stuck with me. Who, she asked, are you writing for? Yourself, or an audience? Furthermore, she wondered whether I thought of one person in particular when I sat down to write. I answered "both" to the former, and "it varies" to the later. Truth be told, however, I mostly just sit down and begin writing whatever pops into my head, for better or for worse. :)

 

Saturday, at the absolute wrong time of the day, I scooted over to Miss Lois's garden to see how her tulips were growing. Too much light for the flowers, but it sure does wonders for the leaves! She's got all these purplish ones, and a gorgeous bunch of pink ones:

Sunday the weather was glorious, and when the weather is glorious, people come out of hibernation. The market was crowded with folks, lots of whom were buying, not only food, but art, jewelry, plants, you name it. Guess what a new vendor was selling? Terrariums! Some kind folks bought at your blogger friend's booth. In fact, quite a few did, for which she was very grateful. Not to mention, happy.

I'm trying to decide whether to go to bridge class tonight, this being Valentine's Day and all. Mr. Bruce leaves in the morning for the rest of the week. Should I, or shouldn't I? I'll ask him. Of course, he's my Valentine every day of the year!

Before I go, there's one more thing I want to share which has not one thing to do with cooking. While still looking for that  Silver Springs family photo, I opened a box full of cards and letters that were my mothers'. One in particular caught my eye,  a single spaced typed letter from us to my Mom. More specifically, it was a Christmas letter, which baffles me to no end because she knew all of the Peck happenings from those days. In any case, I won't bore you with too much of it, but here's how it begins,

Dear Mom (we thought you'd be amused),

Merry Christmas from the Peck family! We hope that 1990 has been as good to you as it has to us. Here are some of the things that have recently happened around here. (Sound familiar?) First of all, very exciting!, we purchased the computer on which this letter is being typed. We also had cable installed.--The Peck family bursts into the '90s!

What follows are paragraphs describing the wonder that was the Peck household in those days. The next to the last paragraph reads like this:

We have an addition to our family. A little over a month ago a stray tabby cat showed up at our home. She invited herself in and has not left since. We named her Cooper, after our favorite, Special Agent Dale Cooper, on the television show, Twin Peaks.

How about that? The Peck family bursts into the '90s! Reading this made me smile. What surprised me the most is that we have had a computer for 21 years now and it's still pretty much a mystery to me. 

 P.S. I nearly forgot to tell you the good news--Alissa also got a job at University of Texas which makes the transportation problems a moot point!

The Votes are Tallied

Actually, there was only one vote. Good enough for me.

Seriously, I'd no intention of discontinuing my blog because as I've said before, it's great for me to go back in time, reading and seeing what was happening. See--I told you a good memory was overrated! I've got a blog for that. :-)

Here's something I'd rather forget--the decimation of our lovely yard. Apparently more weed killer was applied than typical, thus, not only do we have no weeds, we have no grass. This is but just one of the horrible patches. The applier of this overkill has been terminated, which does us no good. We've got to see the results of his mis-application for ages. Yesterday, while our gardener was here, I asked him about laying fresh sod before September, as the lawn spray people have promised if there is no improvement. Won't work Gail. New sod will die as well. What we need is rain, rain, and more rain. And you thought I was exaggerating didn't you?

At least I can console myself once I enter the house because I'm still madly in love with the changes inside. There are more exciting changes to come in the next month or two. Because the general contractor is doing such a marvelous job at Angela's home, Bruce scheduled a meeting with him on Monday evening for 6pm. As such, I decided to make a meal of vegetables, fruit, cheese, cracked pepper salami, and crackers. I prepared these trays in the afternoon.

The green bowl in the forefront is one Matthew gave his Grandma Peck many years ago. I've reclaimed it so that I can not only remember those times, but the little house on the hill amuses me each time I see it. What a lovely array of colors isn't it?

Bruce sketched a rough drawing of a trellis which will go two in two directions. One will be perpendicular to the pool, hopefully to disarm the sun just a bit on the sun room, with the other  extending parallel to the pool. At one end of this one there will be a roof with an outdoor ceiling fan! As well, he is keen on replacing the windows in the sun room with ones that are not only more energy efficient, but stronger as well. Lots and lots of discussion with Mark over construction details. Mostly I sat silently, if you can imagine. Guess what time he left? 9:00!!! Bedtime was less than an hour away, however we did manage to eat all of the fruit!

I forgot to tell you I had a paying job on Saturday. Friday morning Dana phoned asking if I would photograph the Church Street complex for a brochure. Of course I will! I was downtown by 7:30  to take advantage of the morning light, however, some of it was not so great. A second quick run later in the afternoon was enough to complete the task. Although they asked for five, by the time I received the email from the woman in South Florida putting it together, the request was for 11. Yesterday afternoon it took a while to attach 11 full sized versions of photographs to an email,  I'll tell you that much. I'd hardly ever noticed before how lovely this weather vane is. This was not one of their choices.

At the museum yesterday I met a very interesting British woman who also volunteers. Between the two of us we put together a bunch of glass cubes, all connected, for the gift shop. We crashed a lovely potluck lunch put together by the garden volunteers. No, actually they invited us to share and I'm delighted we did. Cindy is doing her best to get me take responsibility for the gift shop. I feel a bit like this crow--should I or shouldn't I.

I've just completed a sweet novella entitled, The Blind Contessa's Writing Machine. The author wove a tale of an impossible romance between a young married Contessa, who goes blind in her first year of marriage, with "Pellegrino Turri, has built the first typewriter proven to have worked in 1808, he also invented carbon paper (1806)."  Apparently he built the typewriter for her to write him letters without the aid of servants. Fanciful in places. Fresh, nonetheless.

Finally, a piece of great news! Cleaning my desk Tuesday morning, I came across the paperwork for my new baby camera. You may recall me mentioning that on vacation, a spot appeared on all my photos taken with the Panasonic. Now, that made me sad because typically with a fixed lens nothing can be done. But wait, something is going to be done! A new camera is the result of my conversation with an extremely helpful person at Panasonic. No, they can't be fixed, but they CAN be replaced. Excellent.

Dazed and Confused

Something I heard on the radio yesterday has left me with some lingering confusion. While interviewing a male novelist, Terri Gross asked him some pointed questions (no surprise there) about writing. It was during his response that everyone wants to be a writer these days that I stopped to think. Is it because now it's so much easier? Is it what I'm calling the democratization of society that the web allows? Have computer, will write? While everyone is writing do they have time left to just read without the need to respond?

For those of you have joined me recently, you might be surprised to learn of my original intentions for this blog. Rather than put folks in the uncomfortable position of always having to ask how I was feeling during an extended illness, I decided to write about it. Additionally, I was then a 52 year old college student. At that time the digital camera was a new toy I was just learning how to play with. My how times have changed haven't they?

I'm thrilled to say that I'm no longer ill, or a college student! Thinking back on both of those experiences, they hardly seem real. For someone who hasn't even had a cold in years and years, it is hard to imagine I spent so much time putting one foot in front of the other to get through my days. Thank God for that camera! The student part--every now and again I think about finishing the last two years, and then I think again. No thanks. 

What's left me confused is wondering if this blog has run it's course. After all, everyone who has ever spent any of their precious time reading this little part of the web knows that I'm not a writer. Try as I might, I will never, never understand grammar and punctuation. I'm a much better chatter. In fact, I can chat up a storm. That's my one claim to fame. 

Which is a darn good thing because those chatting skills came in handy on Sunday at the market. My sales are continuing at an all time low. That's where the dazed part comes in. Yikes! At some point during the day Kathy remarked how busy I was. My reply: "just people I know coming by for a chat." Sales, I need sales! It's been so slow I forgot to pay my June sales taxes ! I'm disconnecting! I'm discouraged! I'm losing faith in myself! All normal, right? This too shall pass. At least that's my hope.

What do you think about this article:http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/07/st_thompson_deadphone/
I hope some of the author's optimistic predictions prove true. My fear is that we are all so connected, we're disconnected. The sound of the human voice can be such a balm. Have you noticed how many people are hugging and air kissing these days? Yet, the phone never rings.

Just to amuse you, I'm including a link to my MOST popular photograph on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gailpeck/543156704/
Can you imagine that it has been looked at over 10,000 times? I was so naive when I put it on there, thinking I was documenting our shopping mania. It's even blurry no less.

Are you ready to smile? After this dreary post you should be! For ages I'd been wanting a photograph of balloons and yesterday I had my chance. While driving past an apartment complex I saw these:

A very cheery sight indeed.

One more note regarding the market if I may. Early in the day a family stopped. An instant family if you will. Identical triplets! Now that's a rarity. Here are the boys in front of my huge fan as they waited for their parents.

They were quite something as they fed off each other. The boy on the left's hair is blowing like crazy. One would squeal in delight, with the others chiming in one after the other. I'd make a noise and the chorus would begin trying to imitate my noise. I DO NOT envy those folks.

Time to go get my oil changed before I head over to the Polasek to help with their gift shop. I'm confused about my role there as well. I almost feel like I'm betraying my friend Karen by continuing to help there, but it's important for me to be volunteering in the community. My application to volunteer at the library apparently went into a file as I've never heard a word.

And, oh yes, I will be stopping by the post office to mail Matt's housewarming gift. He's busy painting and assembling furniture in his spare time! I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

It Seems Like Only Yesterday

Many of you know that Bruce and I met for the first time in 6th grade, but waited until 8th to become "boyfriend & girlfriend." After eight grade he decided to be test the waters a bit, but came back to me on September 25th (my mom's birthday), and we've been together ever since. Today it is extraordinarily rare to date only one person seriously in your life, but it has worked for us beautifully. Bruce is an extraordinary man, I've been a lucky girl to have found him so early in my life.

The night at the Ritz was awesome. The setting is beautiful, the companionship couldn't have been better, and the restaurant was wonderful. I really wanted a picture of the two of us, knowing that my baby camera would never cut it, Bruce went back up to the room to get the Nikon, and the server was kind enough to take this. He took a head on shot, but I like this one better. When in St. Lucia four years ago a person took a picture of us with this pose and it is precious to me. Come to think of it, Carol took one of us in California that is in my kitchen like this. Bruce is very photogenic, however, I am not. My eyes squint up so you can't even see them! I need to practice before the wedding because I don't want to mess up their pictures.

Speaking of which I thought of this the other day. So much time, effort, money, and stress go into a modern wedding. That you know already, but did you ever think that it is like celebrating getting up on the starting block in a swim meet? Generally we don't celebrate that aspect--it's the finish line that counts. What do you think?

I've listed a new blog on the site, "Feasting on Pixels." My friend Terrie, a gorgeous Frenchwoman living near Chicago, is an amazing, and I mean amazing photographer. True to her French heritage, she appreciates food in a way few Americans do. Her blog is filled with not only jaw dropping food photos but text that will make your mouth water, and you will learn some great food facts in the process. I can't recommend it enough. I could go on about her because her life has been so interesting but feast on it yourself.

In Florida there are two kinds of heat, neither of which are good, but I've decided the intense humidity heat is the worst. Today was one of those kinds of days at the little market. At least when the sun is blazing hot you can seek shade, no way with humidity, it envelopes you like a wet towel. Thank you God for air conditioning is all I can say. I could hardly wait to get home. At least today was not a shut out! Between yesterday and today I sold 18 pieces of various sizes. Oh yeah, guess what? Yesterday some folks who purchased something from me at the Baldwin Park Art Festival came to the market and ordered a canvas because they love the other one they bought from me. Now that is what I call special.

It Takes Discipline

So who can guess how much this bird costs? On the first Sunday of every month a group of bird enthusiasts called Parrots in the Park meet under the trees directly behind our booth. Normal appearing people show up, parading their exotic birds either perched on their shoulders or arms. Some even have a little harness that keeps them from escaping. Apparently, birds poop about every fifteen minutes, so the owners either time their parade or let them do their thing. Remember I said they looked normal--to me having bird poop on your clothes or skin is not a normal thing. In fact, I think it is down right gross. At any rate, back to this beautiful bird. The color is extremely intense--I call it indigo with that amazing yellow around the eye.I've learned that these kinds of birds can live up to 100 years old. Now this particular bird is quite rare so the cost reflects that fact. I suspect you did not guess the price of a small car did you? That's right--$15,000! I was puzzling how anyone can tell how old they are; supposing you plunked down the money--figured, ok, I can will it to my children and so forth. I figure that is pretty cheap if you did a cost average per year, but wait, what if you were fooled and it was already 90 years old? Can they really tell?

I am happy to report that I've done some yard work today with no ill effects that I can detect. Can we finally put this last year in the books as a bad dream?

Discipline is what it takes to succeed as a student. Sure, I would much rather be finishing my book, but I must stay focused. I re-read the review of the film and printed some info on montage vs mis en scene. I don't look forward to watching this film tonight as there is a sliced eyeball featured. I've read it was a cow's eye that was used, but still...I'm no fan of horror or violence.

Late this morning Bruce called from Virginia. He's visiting multiple job sites that require him to drive in between. Normally he's in the air, but today it was the Blue Ridge Parkway. I told him he was lucky I wasn't with him as I'd be begging him to stop all the time for picture taking. My market manager called today and asked if I could photograph her and one of our City Commissioners at the park for a magazine article. Yikes--I told her I'd do my best. Maybe I should have said no, I'm only decent at inanimate objects--animate makes me nervous.

I've got about an hour and a half before I leave for school. I must stop blogging and start working on the museum e-mails soliciting artists for an upcoming exhibit.

Lastly, I was thinking today about my friend Elena's blog which is full of fun reading about her antics(I wonder if I should use that term when referring to a DA?) in SoCal. Of course Matt was the first person I knew who had a blog; he must have started at least five years ago. I loved being able to hear all that he was involved in without being a nuisance. Elena's mom (she lives in Italy) often comments on her blog, I suspect she feels the same way. Once a mom, always a mom.

You Saw It Here First

So today we are going on a trip to a Wetlands park. I didn't start out to go there, and I certainly didn't wake up thinking I would see an alligator in the wild today, but that is what happened. I intended to go to this park in Christmas, but I saw the sign, and the MINI just went there. I had the place to myself--sorta scary really. When I told Jonathan this afternoon about the gator we both realized I would have been in quite a bind if it had decided to come close with me being so slow moving these days! It was very quiet and peaceful, the only sounds were the bullfrogs and the birds. I didn't see any frogs, however, I did see a snake, fish, birds, the pictured alligator, a hawk picking up a snake, and flying off with it, and an ugly turtle thing which I haven't identified just yet. There were no trees, so it got hot very quickly even though I left fairly early in the morning. Picture taking isn't so great when the sun gets too high.

When I returned home Maureen had left a message checking on me wondering if I was out somewhere being camera crazy. Of course, she was right.

Bruce left this morning for an entire week. This means no market on Sunday as I am incapable of setting it up due to it's complicated nature. Bill offered to help, but I declined; we'll just wait till next week. Last Sunday a professor from one of the local colleges stopped by and told me that every new government building in Florida has to set aside a certain amount of space for local artists. Now I know you are thinking to yourself that I'm not good enough for that, as was I, nevertheless, that is what he told us. It would certainly be easier!

I'm on track now for my one summer class. It begins next Friday, and I'm hoping I will learn a lot.

A caveat--my sister-in-law Judy called today to check on me and told me she enjoyed reading the blog. Here's the problem: Judy has been a venerated English teacher in town for 35 years and I know I am making punctuation errors, and worse yet, sometimes spelling errors. As well, Matthew has a Masters degree in English. People have said how brave I've been in the face of this illness when in reality, I'm brave writing this blog, knowing they are reading it!

Vulnerability

I don't know what has made me blog exactly. I kept seeing it on Picassa and I guess I thought, why not. Having said that, I now realize that I have made myself very vulnerable, not only with the blog, but my flickr account (www.flickr.com/photos/gailpeck). You begin writing, and then you think, wow, am I just contributing to the blogosphere, or does anyone really care what I think? I had a bit of reinforcement lately though because my dear friend Karen, who has remained a bit of a Luddite for years, showed up at the market, having read about it on the blog. Lisa worries about me if I don't post and Matt's friend, Sarah, apparently catches up with me now and again as well. Thanks guys.

I got a bit of a shaky start this morning; I was having dry heaves in Geology, but I'm doing better now. In order to put logarithms behind me, I made a tiny detour off my main drive home. I know there is a neighborhood in Conway that is overrun by wild peacocks--I decided to see for myself. There are scads of them hanging around front yards and in trees, unbelievable. I'll post more on the flickr. They seem unafraid of people, thus I was able to get pretty close. The light today wasn't great as it is a bit overcast, so I'll try again on a sunnier day. Nice.

I've been thinking about Elizabeth Edwards. I feel very sad about her metastases, and almost sadder at the hope she feels. Having worked as a mammographer for twelve years, I know first hand that it is a rare person who survives for long with her condition. As well, bone cancer is extremely painful. Having young children just adds to the pathos. Here's hoping she is an exception to the rule.

The Story of You

Our local newspaper has a silly slogan, The Story of You. I have to disagree with them--our paper is not the story of me, this blog fills that spot in my life. I've realized why blogging is so popular; almost everyone loves stories, and a blog is just that. Sure, there are some dull spots, but really, everyone is interesting in their own way.

My geology teacher thinks I am lazy because I'm doing poorly in that class, however he is wrong. I am not lazy, and I can appreciate science up to a point, but really, I don't care how it works. Just like I don't care how my microwave works--it just does.

Another thing--wayward teens will most of the time become productive adults if they don't go too far. I don't know what the secret is, although I know it is true. Our son Bill was a challenge during the crucial 13-15 year old phase, but he has turned out beautifully. He passed his Series 6 licensing test yesterday enabling him to become a stock broker. His identical twin brother has that job, and it is working for him.

Not everyone has a M&M store in their town, so here's a look at ours. I never knew they made M&Ms in so many colors; it's really quite fascinating.