Snapper
May 9, 2012
We don’t often come upon snapping turtles on the path or on the road at Radnor Lake. This fellow (his shell about a foot in diameter) had crawled up through the algae that is reforming on the lake with the warmer temperatures, and parked himself squarely in the middle of the road. He was quite a conversation piece, and seemed pleased to pose for his photograph, despite his greenish tinge.
Spring in the Garden of Good and Evil, Part 1
Clematis 'Nelly Moser'
I bought a container of bright fuchsia Pinks from a display in front of the grocery store this morning. It was a whim purchase, since I have other yard issues at the moment, and really don’t need to be buying random plants. I must have looked like I was going straight home to create a personal botanical garden, because a woman several cars away from where I was loading my groceries into the trunk ran over to me, and said, “You must be a gardener.” I said, “Oh, only a casual one!” Then she started asking me a string of questions about what the beautiful plant was, when to plant, how deep, how long the blooms would last….and on, and on. I couldn’t figure out what made her think I was such an expert, other than that the pink flowers were in the perfect color range with what I was wearing. Fortunately, I looked at the tag to see that the flowers were Dianthas (Pinks) before I mistaken told her they were Bachelor Buttons.
I’ve been a real gardener from time to time. At this time in my life, recent events to the contrary, I am a casual gardener, one who might buy a plant or two along with the milk and cereal at Kroger in the spring, stick them in the ground, and then expect profuse blooming from that moment until doomsday without further attention from me.
We have lived in our house for eleven years this spring. I loved it right away for its tucked in the woods kind of look, in spite of it being situated in the heart of one of the busiest areas of Nashville. A very nice thing about a woodland house is that the garden is supposed to look a little on the wild side. Too much fussing and you end up with a garden that requires more than you want to give in time, exertion and money. In our little woodland paradise, we refer to tangles of vines as “habitat”, and to the honeysuckle growing all around the border as a “welcome buffer to surrounding houses and city sounds.” Over the years, I’ve seen owls, foxes, flocks of bluebirds, deer, and one very lost great blue heron in my yard. I’ve also seen possums, coyotes, and a surplus of rabbits and chipmunks. The wild side and I have coexisted without incident, and I have, with a few exceptions, maintained a casual relationship with this yard and garden. Beautiful flowers open in my garden in every season, yes, even in winter when the hellebores bloom.
Honeysuckle
From time to time, I’ve gone forth into my garden with a shovel and Tensing in tow, to bring a tiny bit of order to honeysuckle’s rampant growth. Tensing shovels up a honeysuckle by the roots, I shake the dirt loose and put it in a garbage bag. Beyond that I haven’t been willing to go. I’m not oblivious to the damage that honeysuckle causes, but a casual gardener does not pick battles than can not be won, even if capitulation to the enemy means my garden is regarded with scorn by the Native Plant Community.
Honeysuckle, deceptively lovely
Mosquitos
In addition to a lack of interest in warfare with honeysuckle, I have chosen to omit some other Tennessee gardening challenges from a life well lived. Feeding mosquitos with my own blood is at the top of that list, and, although there is nothing written on my calendar, there is a day in May when I hang up the shovel and gloves, and refuse to be a human sacrifice to those evil bloodsuckers. I have a serious gardening friend who wears a mosquito netting suit so she can work in her garden at any time all summer long. That is simply beyond the scope of casual gardening.
Snakes and Ticks
Although there are only four kinds of venomous snakes in Tennessee (copperhead, cottonmouth and two kinds of rattlesnakes), there are many others that lie under rocks, waiting for them to be overturned by a foolhardy gardener with a false sense of security. Depending on the individual’s ability to handle such trauma, the casual gardener may merely delay further work in the garden while recovering from the shock, or abandon it indefinitely.
Ticks are not as alarming because you don’t come upon them as a big surprise. They are, in fact, something of an afterthought, discovered long after actual work in the garden is done, and do not warrant a bloody murder scream. The casual gardener does not like being surprised by a snake, or any kind of intimate contact with a tick. All the other creatures that live in the dirt that I can think of at the moment are OK and should be allowed to live in peace. Except spiders, and yes, I do know that most spiders are beneficial to the garden. I just don’t see spider bites as beneficial to me.
Pansies
Grass, or rather, Lack of Grass
As a casual gardener, I do not mind the grime, dirt-caked shoes and broken fingernails that come with the territory. Strange how meditative gardening can be. I’m not sure why. The combination of hard work, hot sun, humidity, and dripping sweat (we get way beyond dewiness while working in a garden) doesn’t come to mind as the most calming activity, but I always feel very serene. Maybe because no one wants to bother you for fear they would be pressed into service, so you can concentrate completely on the task at hand.
The casual gardener does not like to spend money on grass and fertilizer, only to harvest more and more weeds every season. That is nothing but a slap in the face for trying to nice to your yard. The casual gardener does not have an interest in an advanced botanical degree, and how else would one know that a yard needs lime, and that is why it is turning into a dirt pile interspersed with a few wispy weeds and moss?
Spiderwort 'Sweet Kate'
Poison Ivy
Poison ivy is not a welcome sight in a casual garden, or any other for that matter. That sneaky devil likes to hide, only to reveal itself in your hand when you thought you were just thinning vinca. It also hides underneath Virginia Creeper and rubs against your ankles and legs like a cat until you’ve uprooted the creeper and can see what trouble you are in. Too late. Might as well put everything away for the day and take your shower.
There wasn’t any poison ivy in my yard until a few years ago. It is a prolific grower, and difficult to eradicate. I bought a can of poison ivy spray, and used it from time to time, but I generally stayed out my garden for a few years until I evidently sprayed it into oblivion . Too risky.
Phlox
Peonies
Peony blossom
Flood
We are coming up on the two year anniversary of the Great Nashville Flood of 2010. My peonies were in the way of that, along with a dozen or more bags of newly spread mulch in the front yard. I’d like to think somebody in the drainage ditch downstream managed to salvage and use it. All I ever get from upstream are broken children’s toys, discarded Christmas trees and empty liquor bottles.
Iris
Late Freezes
Late freezes are big stressors to gardeners, except to the casual gardener wh0 doesn’t rush the spring season by planting things that then require all the sheets and towels in the linen closet to be thrown over them so they don’t freeze to death when the thermometer drops to 22 degrees after three weeks of temps in the 80′s. Why this should be a surprise, I cannot guess, since it happens every single year! Of course, the casual gardener might miss the planting season altogether, which isn’t good. Thank goodness for those display racks in front of Kroger. Oh, yeah, I should buy a plant and put it in the garden somewhere.
Drought
Dry summers are terrible, especially when they are officially referred to as extended droughts. There was a long, destructive one a few years ago. Old trees suffered damage they will never recover from. Conditions were so bad that the yards of those who faithfully watered didn’t look any better than the yards of casual gardeners who did not. It was actually a dead tree, probably from that summer’s drought, that prompted this lengthy discourse on my garden. I’ll get to that.
Helleborus
.
Cranesbill geranium
Rabbits
Several years ago rabbits began multiplying in my yard like, well, rabbits. They ate everything with leaves on it. Everything! They even lived, and, I’m sure bred, under my front porch, running out from under it every time I descended the steps. If people using the porch are so frightening to them, why don’t they pick another spot to convene? One day, as my grandson and I were leaving the house, I lost my live-and-let-live attitude, and took off after a rabbit that ran out from under the step, screaming names at it, stomping and waving my arms. I’ve never really seen a stunned and speechless two year old before that moment. I don’t think he has been permanently traumatized, however, as he is five now, and seems to be OK with rabbits, and with grandmothers.
There might be a home remedy somewhere to get rid of those pesky rodents, but I know from experience that fox urine in powder form does not deter them. I think it is a fake. Just where and how is such a thing collected, anyway? no need to answer. I’m getting one of those mental pictures.
Clematis
In spite of, or maybe because of, my laissez-faire attitude, I enjoy my garden. What little trouble I endure is worth it when I wander the yard with my camera, but I know where I can visit some spectacular gardens which are completely cared for by others, so my yard shouldn’t start thinking I need it! No weeding, watering, transplanting, fertilizing, or mulching on my part at all in those gardens. No snakes, ticks, rabbits, poison ivy, mud or sunburn, and if I want cut flowers, Kroger has nice ones.
Oh, yes, now, about that dead tree. I think that story belongs in another post since this one is about living as a casual gardener. Nothing has been casual around here since the day the dead tree was called to my attention. That tale will be told in Spring in the Garden of Good and Evil, Part 2. I will add a link here when I get it written.
White Water at Radnor
April 11, 2012
There’s no need to gather up wet suits and rafts. The turbulent foam is only the clouds reflected in the water. There was actually only a trickle going over the spillway under me as I stood on the bridge to take this picture.
In a Spin
April 5, 2012
Nashville’s spring flowers are so surprised! Their blooms opened in March to 80 degree temperatures! Summer flowers followed fading redbud, dogwood, and daffodils before the calendar page turned to April. Everything has been lush, and green, and a little mixed up. I wouldn’t say things are spinning out of control, but we are in a spin. The pretty hellebore in the picture has been composited against a background layer that I shot by turning the camera while the shutter was open. I combined the layers, first of all, to prove to myself that I could still remember how in spite of my long absence from taking, processing and posting any photos, and, second, because it seemed appropriate to this crazy, topsy-turvy spring.
I’m mixing things up in my blog world, too. I added the final post to Radnor Reflections just a little while ago, and I will combine my photo-a-day pictures that have been in Lightdance into this main blog, Three Dog Studio. Please join me here if you have been a Radnor Reflections, or Lightdance reader. I love it when you stand in my light!
Slow Walk
April 4, 2012
I saw in the Tennessean this morning before meeting the Deers at Radnor, that April is National Walking Month. We met this turtle on the path, and he said that was why he was out for a little stroll today.
First in Flight
March 24, 2012
Captain Tensing and his Rio prepare to enter the flight simulator at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Chantilly, VA. Due to some hot dogging maneuvers during flight, they failed to shoot down their target, but a good time was had by all.
Enola Gay
March 23, 2012
The Enola Gay is on permanent display for the first time at the Udvar-Hazy Center at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA (Dulles Airport). Not surprisingly, an earlier temporary display at the Smithsonian on the National Mall ended in controversy before it was ever completed.
Some essence of the past is embodied in the physical things that survive that can evoke the senses. As I stood close enough that I could have reached out and touched the Enola Gay, I could imagine the hum of the engines as it flew from Tinian Island to its destination, the weight of the decision to use such awful power, and a chill of fear knowing that the moment the atomic bombs struck ground zero marked a change in the world forever.
Star Shine
March 22, 2012
Washington, D.C., with its insane traffic and the endless security lines at every attraction, is the last place someone with a need for peace and healing needs to go. I found myself there, nevertheless, and if it hadn’t been for my bad attitude, I would have had a great time! I just wasn’t ready for the throngs and hubbub that my daughter thrives on, but Tensing and I went in order to accompany our grandsons home from their spring break trip, while our daughter went on to Philadelphia for work.
Family gatherings can be very crowded in DC, as three of Tensing’s brothers and sisters and their families live in the area. Many thanks to them for their wonderful hospitality, and for the great family meal Sunday night. Sixteen of us in all, plus Maddie, the very senior Golden Retriever. Great food, funny stories, much laughter, and no security line!
The picture is of the Wall of Honor in front of the entrance to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Aero Space Center near Dulles Airport, which is the companion facility to the Smithsonian Space Museum on the National Mall. The newer facility, which opened in 2006, is huge, and allows very large planes to be suspended in hangars and viewed from many angles from catwalks. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay is one of those planes, and it is on display there for the first time anywhere. It is a very sobering experience to see this piece of history.
The Aero Space Museum was the first of many tours we took in DC during the three days we were there. In the picture, my daughter and grandson are looking for my sister-in-law’s father’s name on the Wall of Honor. We are very proud to know that he played a prominent role in the history of flight. I like to think that the sunstar, which I did not know was in the picture until I saw it on my computer, is a shining tribute to America’s shining heroes, and especially to Laura’s Dad.
Happy Valentine’s Day, 2012
Even though I may not be back to blogging as often as I’d like, I do want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day, with another heart found in a tree. I keep my eye out for these hearts, now, as I seem to have a series going on. I found the 2010 heart in a tree at Radnor Lake. That tree has since been cut down, maybe by someone who wasn’t lucky in love? I came upon this year’s heart on Assateague Island, VA.
I will be back blogging, sometime. I am still dealing with things surrounding my mother’s death, which is all complicated by living 500 miles away from where she lived. I will be back with photographs soon, I think. I can hardly even remember where Photoshop resides on my computer, it has been so long since I’ve done anything with a camera. In the meantime, I apologize to everyone who is sick and tired of the Spillway, which is the last photo I posted in Radnor Reflections in December, before going home to be with my mother in her final days. When I get organized again, I will probably combine Radnor Reflections and Lightdance into the Three Dog Studio blog. I’m worn out with making decisions, though, so nothing’s final yet.
Although I’ve missed some walks at Radnor due to weather and being out of town, I am happy to say that walks have been continuing, and that has done my ‘heart’ good in so many ways.
Thanks again to everyone who has been so kind during this difficult time. I can’t say it often enough. You are all my dear, and Deer, valentines!
Emails from my Mother’s Bedside
Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 4:54
Dear Deers, My flight to A2 is at 8:30, getting in at 11:05 PM tonight. I hope someone wakes me up, or I may end up in Greenland! I will take a Metro Car straight to St. Joe’s, where my brother and I will stay with my mother. They cannot get the fluid off of her lungs, and are not sustaining her with any machines, per her wish. She has had a miserable time of it, but we hope she is no longer in pain. I don’t think she will know I’m there as she has fallen into unconsciousness. Thanks for all your offers of help. Your friendship is more than enough. I love you all, K
Tues, Dec 21, 2011 at 7:30AM
Deers, I miss you all! Hope you are ready for Christmas, and in the spirit! In the middle of the night it came to me that I should stop fretting about getting home. I need to stay here with John, whatever happens with Mom, so I think F is going to drive up Friday and we will create a Christmas that is already very different from what we thought it would be.
I don’t know how my mother is still alive. She is shutting down, they say. Knowing her strength, this could take some time. Her breathing has been exhaustingly labored, and now she has long pauses of apnea. They are being wonderful to her, and she looks peaceful even with the horrible breathing. She hasn’t eaten or had any water since Sunday. I am going to her house today to get a picture of my grandmother to take to her room. Well, that may be as much for me as for her. It can do double duty!
John and I slept on hospital chairs last night, and I am using the term ‘slept’ very loosely, but we plan to go home tonight. The nurses told us some people prefer to die when no one is with them, so we should not feel guilty about not being here every minute. How would anyone know that? Love to you all, K
Weds, Dec 21, 2011 at 3:05AM
Dear B, Thanks so much. Mother is still with us. She wouldn’t be, if she knew what was going on. We’re in limbo. Can’t prepare. Can’t plan when to go home. Can’t even say goodbye, because she’s out of it. Not ready for Christmas. Probably won’t even get home. John and Monica have cancelled their trip to Nashville. I miss you all and our walks. I’ll try to be upbeat in the next communication, as soon as something good happens. Pretty grim so far. Marianne did come yesterday with her music to sing Christmas carols to Mom. One of the nurses walked in the room and sang harmony with her. I guess you could say having a big, old cry was a good thing. Marianne is a beautiful singer, but we always laughed at her embarrassing Mom because she would burst into song in “inappropriate” places, like grocery store aisles, and waiting rooms. Mother never did like any of us to call attention to ourselves, or to her, even in a good way. Love, K
Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 7:35PM
Thanks for your email. I am sitting with Mom now. John has gone to get us some dinner. She has opened her eyes a few times today, but not really to see anything. She’s getting no food or water, and no meds, and still she’s hanging on. John has instructions to just shoot me before it gets to this point for me. The trade-off for a long life, I gess, is that you get to have a “journey” in order to end it. If Mom were able, I’m certain she would say, no thanks. They are taking very good care of her, and she seems comfortable. I’m not going to go home for Christmas. I need to be here. I’m certain my mother wants to go, and I wish that peace for her. -k-
Thurs, Dec 22, 2011 at 6:41AM
Hello Deers, I’m turning into a blob. The most exercise I’ve gotten is pushing the revolving door at the entrance of St. Joe’s Hospital! Don’t worry about the group falling apart, B. The real definition of falling apart is occurring here in A2. Walking will resume!
John and I are making progress, as hard as it is to handle matters of the end of Mom’s life before she draws her last breath. Went to Meuhlig’s Funeral Home yesterday, which was oddly comforting since it is an A2 institution, and we have gathered there to say goodbye to people throughout my entire life. We got past the casket thing with me remarking that you could have a great party for that amount of money, and the funeral director (who might be 25, but maybe not quite) agreeing. So, I decided I liked him. He pulled out their records for David and Dad, and we had a great time remembering things past. David’s death was only 13 months ago, but even that, and all that went with it, seem OK. My Granddad was buried by Meuhlig’s, way back in 1947. This morning, if John ever wakes up, we are going to see her attorney to find out what we have to do to get started there.
Can you tell by the length of this that it is very early, John is still asleep, he does not stock decaf, and I have nothing else to do? You can delete if you want, as I am just rambling.
I’m sticking with my plan for John to shoot me before I get into the condition Mom is in, but I’ve added cremation to the instructions (ha, ha! I just looked back at the word cremation, and auto correct had written castration. Damn you, auto correct!) Anyway, will you all scatter my ashes at Radnor, someplace where they won’t get caught up in all the algae? Bad enough to think of being run over by a reindeer, being eaten by one would be worse. John says if I want to be shot AND cremated, we could accomplish both with a fire bomb and save the bullet. Whatever. A dilaudid drip, however, with no restriction on extra pushes isn’t the worst thing, but it does nothing for bed head, so I’m sticking with the first plan.
No report on Mother’s condition, as it is more of the same. Just waiting and waiting. Tried to get her interested in our game of Scrabble last night, but no go. It’s bad when she passes up a game of any sort. Marianne’s entrance and greeting when she came in yesterday did cause her to raise her head off the pillow a little, and smile. A real smile, even though her eyes were not focused! If you could see her condition, you would know how remarkable that was.
Enough. I’ll make one more glance through what I’ve written, in case auto correct got in there again when I wasn’t looking. Love to you all, -k-
Hi L, I’m thinking of you and your family gathering and hoping it is a great Christmas for you. You deserve some calm after the storm. Peace on earth and all that. Thanks for helping out with the mail. L will be there Monday until we get home. I have no idea when that will be, but I’m very tired of the four changes of clothes I brought! Mother’s schedule and mine are not in sync. -k-
Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 11:00AM
Deers, My Mother passed away a little while ago.
John and I had come in a little late, just in time to see one of the nurse technicians clean, curl and comb her hair. We were sitting with her, and I was paying close attention, wiping her lips and mouth with moisture every few minutes with the swab they had given us. My phone rang, and it was Robert. We talked briefly, and when he asked if there was any change in Gramma, I looked at her and couldn’t see her breathing. Thinking it might be an apnea episode, I told Robert to wait, and not to hang up! I alerted John, and when we were certain there was no breath, I went to the nurse’s station. On my way, I put the phone back to my ear and told Robert that he had been given the blessing of being present when his grandmother took her last breath. He had been feeling sad because he hadn’t been able to get up to see her, but she waited for him! For him, and for having her hair done, probably.
No matter what was happening in her life, or in the world, or maybe even in the universe, my mother had a standing appointment to have her hair done once a week. Once, as usually happened, John had one of his accidents while I was staying with him and Dave. I forget which broken arm or injury this was, but I called Mom. Maybe she was too used to these calls to be alarmed, but she calmly told me I would have to call Dad to take care of it, because she had a hair appointment. Maybe if I’d been incoherent, or screaming about loss of blood or an appendage, she might had risen to action, but, I, too, was so used to it, that I probably sounded quite matter-of-fact.
Mon, Dec 26, 2011 at 5:59AM
Hi Deers, Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts. I can feel your warmth, and wish I was there to walk today.
Tonight EAS flies in. Tomorrow Robert, Elizabeth and the three little boys. Services on Wednesday. We will probably return on Friday. I will only be on round 3 of my four changes of clothing. I have been putting off looking in the clothes bag Frank brought with what I’m wearing to the services. I can always run to Briarwood and get something if he put in the wrong items. I think Chico’s was right across from Build-a-Bear, where I took Walker in November. Or, maybe I’ll just pop into Build-A-Bear! They step on a pedal, fluff you up, choose an outfit from the display case, and you’re good to go!
We are going through my mother’s papers in preparation for a meeting with the trustee tomorrow. There was no chance for Elizabeth and me to be disorganized, but at least we are not hoarders of file folders, labels and handwritten ledger sheets that list every piddling detail of our lives. I now know, and am impressed by, the fact that a three day trip to Colorado that she treated me to when I was at at the UofM cost $200. She saved the ledger. Also, a ledger of every accident and hospitalization we kids had. I’m on there once for appendicitis, David once for something minor, and then John fills the rest of the page. Frank says we have a case here of over-organization, so many duplicating files that we can’t be sure if we’ve found the pertinent one or not. I even found a plastic storage bowl filled with hundreds of those blasted, tiny little sticker things you take off fruit from the grocery store. Please, Mom, come back and tell me why!
Again, it’s early, house is quiet. I have no computer, and nothing to do until it gets light. I do, at least, have some coffee, but I will stop rambling. I thought of you all over the weekend and wished you all peace and joy and good times with people you love, even if they sometimes drive you nuts. My brother assured me that that particular feeling is always entirely mutual. So, he thinks I keep my house too cold, and that drives him nuts! I’m not sure I will win that war here if I have to wage it with a furnace man!
Tues, Dec 27, 2011 at 8:00AM
Snow here! 1-3 inches! They have these funny looking machines that come around and shovel the snow off the streets. Imagine that!
Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 5:32AM
I can hardly wait to get home! It looks like we will probably be able to drive home on Friday. I’ve heard a lot of chatter from you all about walking, but has there been an actual, honest to goodness walk? I hear it has rained just about the whole time I’ve been gone.
Kids are here. Bedlam! They were so excited yesterday when they got here over the trip, being together, and then the snow, that I couldn’t help thinking how nice a motel room would be. Last week I told Karsten we were going to say goodbye to Gramma Fuller. Now that he’s here to say it, I wonder what he’ll think about not being able to see her to do it?
I’ll be glad when we get through this day Love to all, K
Thurs, Dec 29, 2011 at 6:32AM
Dear Deers, I will see you soon. We will leave A2 tomorrow after the realtor comes by. Needless to say, I’m ready. G, I’m very sorry to hear that this “thing” you have will not let go. Get well! Maybe by next Monday the Deers will all be together again.
Yesterday was lovely. I’m sure my mother would have been pleased. Our excellent funeral director selected a great minister to conduct the family service at the funeral home. Our chairs were circled in order for it to be informal, and he spoke beautifully and often on a level the little boys could understand. William and Karsten were quite broken up. Walker had ants in his pants the whole day. Karsten, at 5, even remarked that, “Walker isn’t acting sad”. By the time we got to the reception, we were arguing over which one of us would be the one to put him in a closet with a heavy weight to bar the door. I was as tired as it is possible to be when it was over, but had a great feeling. Plus, I had to hold it together until after our family dinner at Zingermann’s Roadhouse. It turned out to be the perfect ending touch to the day, and I could feel Mom’s spirit with us. THIS time she could hear, and enjoyed the conversation! I was not the one to make the reservation, because I thought the perfect finish would be to go home and immediately fall into bed! You can always count on Elizabeth to arrange a party!
What day is complete without plumbing problems? Not a good thing with eight people in the house. Called the plumber right after Elizabeth called upstairs to announce that the third toilet had overflowed. Plumber was here before she was out of the shower. Instead of viewing that as a minor miracle, she was a little irritated. Of course, she didn’t know we had called the plumber, and didn’t think it was funny that we were waiting in the hall for her to get out. Then everyone had to leave for the service before he was finished, so he had to lock up and let himself out of the house.
Found some hilarious art I did of little brother John that Mother saved, among so many other unexpected treasures. The proportions are off, and the hands look like hooks, but the ears are perfect! He was probably 5, so I would have been 14 when I did this.
Can’t wait to be walking with you all again. Love, k
Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 4:45 PM
Hey, Little Brother, We’re home. The trip was uneventful. I hated to leave you, but home has never, ever looked so good. You were a good son. The best. You’re a good brother. The best. I’ll see you soon, and call you often. Whatever you need, just let me know. Try not to call when I have a hair appointment, OK? :-)
PS Would you send me that write-up from the paper that Mother saved? The one where the police interviewed you after you lit the gunpowder you found in the park when you were supposed to be playing Little League ball, and it exploded in your face? It was that day when I was babysitting you, waiting for you at the house. Remember?
