Black Monday

To combat the darkness of the financial news I'm posting a picture from The Villages, a planned community about an hour north of Orlando where Bruce is building not only a Red Lobster, but an Olive Garden as well. When Sarah Palin visited Florida it was right near hear that thousands gathered in the sweltering heat to hear her. Of course, that was before her interviews when people were still cheering....

On Friday I went with Bruce to Vero Beach to check on a parking lot problem. Because he'd driven around 700 miles last week I drove him so he could at least only singletask rather than his usual multi. His Blackberry never seems to quit. This way during the hour and a half drive he could handle his calls and e-mails with me doing the motoring. If you've never been exposed to MINI lingo, that is what they call driving. As well, when you drive a MINI it is understood that you automatically wave at your fellow MINI drivers. The non-compliance of some drivers used to exasperate Jonathan to no end. He thought, where is their sense of unity???

Happily the Seminoles won on Saturday and the Gators lost--a perfect day; it probably won't happen again anytime soon, so I'm reveling in it while I can. Ironically while we were driving to the Villages on Saturday loads of people heading to the Gator game were sharing the highway. I'm sure their drive home was not nearly as cheerful as the drive up to Gainesville.

Rain again just as we were getting home from the market yesterday with the tent getting wet. Fortunately it waited until after we were packed up. The lovely weather from earlier in the week vanished by Sunday with the humidity getting serious in the afternoon. I was delighted when two folks who said they would come by to purchase showed up.

While looking for David's birth certificate late this afternoon I came across lots of memorabilia including the receipt for my original wedding ring. The total cost--$468 which in 1973 felt like a lot of money. I found something I'd written about the birth of the twins describing the experience as thrilling. I wrote that I was so happy to go home from the hospital and see my darling Mattie. Another funny thing was a letter signed-- your loving son, Bill. Sounds sweet huh? Unfortunately there was no date, but in it he apologized for disappointing me academically (that went on for a while I can tell you that!), explaining he would try harder in the new nine weeks. The real reason for the letter was asking me to type his report! He knew I was easily seduced by words. Once he got over his teenage years he was once again a model student thank goodness.

Yet another find found in the twins baby book. Fashions, fads, and crises of the day--patterned hose and skinny jeans, disco dancing to the BeeGees, roller skating, and the unheard of price of gasoline--$1/gallon.

Which leads me to the title..yes it is terrible right now. Will it stay this way forever? Of course not. How long it will last is anybodies guess, but here's hoping recovery starts sooner, rather than later. The bad news for my boys today--Wachovia was sold (Bill), what it means we don't know at this point. Then there is the 777 point plunge in the stock market. David tells me he is pretty well immune at this point. I'm doing my best not to worry about the twins although I have to admit it isn't easy.

Fly Away

I adore white hibiscus flowers; they look like they have wings don't they?

I've been anxious all day, in fact, I tried to start this earlier, but I just couldn't sit still. It seems as if parenting of young children is filled with worries whether it be potty training, teething, first day of school and so on. As the children become teenagers (particularly boys, although that doesn't necessarily hold true anymore!) you worry about drug use, promiscuity, and driving. And so the worries mount as they age.

Mostly I'm an optimist meaning things often happen that I'm either unaware of or choose to ignore, however today is not one of those days. As you know both Bill and Dave work in the financial sector which as I type is fraught with misery. I literally felt sick for Dave in particular having to go to work today and keep from going crazy. I wanted to call him early, but I don't usually want them to think I'm meddlesome; fortunately he called me. His phone was already going crazy with investors seeking answers, the problem is that this time around there seems to be no answers. Although they put on a brave face neither Presidential candidate knows what to do. Which brings up the point--why in heaven's name would anyone want to be President? It boggles my mind why anyone would want to be in charge of the mess that things have become.

I've been working on getting it all into perspective after reading about the victims of Hurricane Ike. What misery those folks have faced already with some of the worst discomforts to come. Just like Florida, Texas is a hot box--no power is something very hard to live with at this time of year. It feels like all the humidity was sucked up into the Hurricane as it passed by our peninsula because the weather here has been spectacular the last few days--still hot, but bearable. The pool water is perfect.

To escape the bad news of the day I've been delving into fiction. Maureen loaned me Evidence of Things Unseen which I cannot praise enough. I found a post it note in the back from her friend Sherri who loaned it to her--"exquisite book, hope you enjoy." I couldn't say it any better. The plot begins in the early 1920's and of all things it involves not only photography, but x-rays as well.by Marianne Wiggins Published in 1993, it lost the Pulitzer fiction prize to what I'm now reading, Middlesex.by Jeffrey Eugenides The first novel took about 20 pages to get into, the second, one paragraph. I so envy the talent of gifted writers.

Bruce was off early to the North country returning on Thursday. That poor man works so hard. Being a perfectionist definitely has its drawbacks.

Did I mention I got acceptance into a gallery show for October at the City Arts Factory? Keep reading....more details forthcoming.