Here we go again

As you saw last time, the robin's nest is empty. That empty nest picture in my last post was taken May 27. End of story.

On Wednesday morning (May 30), I was working on photos I took of the high school graduations and Memorial Day. I had taken both the work camera and my own camera to Memorial Day, and I wasn't happy with the shots on the work camera. I knew I had better stuff on my own camera. (Simple reason: It's a much better camera.)

I live less than a block from the office (we moved there five years before the office did), so I walked home to get the other camera. As I left for the office again, I looked across the porch--and did a double-take. I went back inside, opened the camera bag and called my wife, who was upstairs. "Come down and take a look at this."

Here is what I showed her ...


It looked a lot like a photo I shot on April 22 ...


But that was on the northeast corner of the porch. This one is on the northwest corner, where last summer's nest was built.

That photo was taken at about 9:55 a.m. At lunchtime, I was eager to get an update, but I was disappointed. Most of the stuff was now on the floor of the porch. Only a little of it was left. I was so disappointed, I didn't take a picture.

Today (May 31), I had to drive out of town for a photo around noon, and my wife went with me. We stopped at Subway and at the store, and then went back home. I remembered the remnants of the nest and went to take another look.

Looking back at me ...


I have seen that behavior before. About a month earlier, I spied on the other robin as she was working on her nest. She scrunched herself down and turned around this way and that, creating a round depression in the nest materials.

After work (about 4 hours later), the robin was gone, so we decided to sneak a look at the workmanship--and see if there was anything inside ...


Not yet. For now, we'll let nature take its course. In a day or two or three, we'll sneak another peek.

Maybe I need to find an old chair that I can keep on the porch for a while.

****
It was a little happiness. Our town has had some sad times in the last few weeks.

A few weeks ago, a 12-year-old girl was out riding on an off-road vehicle on one of the trails around here. The ORV got out of control, hit a fence, and the driver was killed.

About a week ago, a 15-year-old high school freshman (female) committed suicide. Circumstances and reasons not known.

A few days later, another high school girl (freshman or sophomore) was driving in a truck with a friend. The truck went off the road. The driver was killed, and the passenger is being treated for serious injuries.

All young girls.

The old superstition is that things happen in threes. In this case, I hope it's true.

And then there were none

The ongoing story taking place on our front porch has ended the way we all knew it inevitably would.

Our last report on the little robins showed that their nest was getting a bit crowded ...



...mostly due to mom's regular feeding ...


I didn't get any pictures on May 26, mainly because I was gone most of the day. On the morning of May 27, I had the camera out to take the little guys' newest picture ...


That was about 8:30 a.m. At about 10 a.m., they seemed even bigger, and the nest was really looking crowded ...


Both of us noted that we hadn't seen mom around that morning. Had the gravy train gotten derailed?

Right around noon, I had to leave to cover the two high school graduations, and that took most of the afternoon. When I got back home at about 4:30 p.m., the nest looked quiet. Very quiet. Empty. We got the chair and mirror for a close look. Here is what we saw ...

Just one very dirty nest and an egg that never hatched.

From the first photo of the three eggs ...

... just 23 days had passed. Since the first view of the babies ...

... just 14 days had elapsed.

Things happen fast around here sometimes.

No picture on May 26 because that's the day we took my mom up to Marquette, which is where the nearest Red Lobster is located. It was the day before her 85th birthday; enough of an excuse to celebrate. She likes the scallops most of all--she and my dad used to eat at Red Lobster when they would take a trip down to Green Bay, and that's what she would have.

So she had her seafood platter with the scallops, and the rest of us got some seafood there also. Then, the two-hour trip back to the nursing home, and then we drove back home ourselves. So I had about six hours of driving that day, all together.

She had a good time, but she said for next year--if she makes it that long--we'll go to Hardee's in Iron Mountain to celebrate (just across the river from the nursing home). We go there often for chicken sandwiches when we visit her, and I'm getting better at folding up the wheelchair and stuffing it into my car's trunk.

I covered the graduations on Sunday. That night, my wife and I watched the first half of "Doctor Zhivago." Today, I was up early for Memorial Day observances at a little town about 10 miles away. It takes place in a pretty little rural cemetery. The ceremony started at 8 a.m., and they always have a good crowd (even two years ago, when it rained).



You can see how green it is. You can only imagine how clean the air is or how the breeze is moving the leaves around. And as for the birds' singing from all directions ... there aren't enough words to describe that. Such a beautiful place.

As the buglers played Taps, I went behind them for this panoramic shot ...


David is over for lunch, and most like a movie this afternoon. Maybe the last half of Doctor Zhivago, but most likely not. Then, the Senators and Ducks hit the ice later.

No more driving today. I've put on enough miles lately.

No more writing, either. My wife just called upstairs. "Lunch is ready."

The crowded nest

A bunch of update news this time, including something about Gary Doer.

OK, show of hands now. Does anybody know who Gary Doer is? (Carm, keep your hand down!)

But first, I'm sure you want an update on the robin family.

The little robins are still in the nest, but that could change at any time. They are big little birds now. This evening my wife and I watched as one of them was exercising his/her wings. Flapped them pretty hard about a half dozen times. That once seems nearly ready to exit the nest permanently, and I'm sure his/her brother/sister will be right behind him/her.

Anyway, on to the pictures. Here is the last one you saw, from May 20 ...


Here is the May 22 version ...


And this is the photo from today (May 24) ...


While I was home for lunch today, it also was lunchtime at the nest ...


Like all moms, she had to decide who gets fed first. Usually the one with the biggest mouth ...


And as she keeps feeding them, the nest gets smaller. Or else the little birds are getting bigger. Ow! Watch your elbow!


My next nest picture is scheduled for Saturday, May 26. But there may not be any little birds left by then.

***
Still got you stumped about Gary Doer and how he figured into my life this week, right?

Gary Doer (pronounced DEW-er) is the premier of Manitoba, and he called a provincial election that was held on Tuesday. (Carmdown knows that--she's from Winnipeg.) The CBC station carried on our cable system is also from Winnipeg, and at 8 p.m. the polls closed and CBC started its election coverage.

At that same moment, about 2,000 miles away, the Detroit Red Wings were hitting the ice for Game 6 of their Western Conference finals against the Anaheim Ducks, knowing they must win to stay alive in the series--they were trailing 3-2. CBC was carrying the game. Except in Manitoba, where CBC focused on the election and whether the NDP would stay in power and Doer would get his third term in office.

The Winnipeg station said that the game was being streamed on CBC's website. But, apparently, it was only available to Canadian web surfers--I hit the link and nothing happened. So I went to the NHL website and listed to the radio broadcast for the first period ... and the second period ... and the first half of the third period. Anaheim was leading 4-1.

By then, Gary Doer had been re-elected and had given his victory speech. The NDP had held on to the Manitoba legislature, all the seats had been decided, and the political analysts had run out of things to say. Suddenly, it was hockey time--halfway through the third period.

At this precise point, the Red Wings started rallying. They scored one goal. Then they scored another. And the big 4-1 lead was down to 4-3. The Red Wings were attacking the Anaheim net. It would go down to the wire. But in the end, Anaheim held on to its 4-3 win, and Detroit's season was over.

So now it's Ottawa vs. Anaheim for the Stanley Cup, starting Monday night. But what would have happened (who would have won) if the election coverage had ended just a little bit earlier?

***
Early deadline this week because Monday is the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. I'm taking Saturday off to visit my mom--it's the day before her 85th birthday, and I plan to take her for a ride. She has been talking lately about how long it has been since she has been at a Red Lobster restaurant. There is one in Marquette, about 80 miles away. In U.P. terms, that's a fairly short trip.

I can't get away on Sunday because I will be covering high school graduation at both our county's high schools that afternoon. The woman who usually covers one of them broke her leg recently and isn't going to be hopping around to cover events for a month or two. So I'll be picking up some of the photo-type work she does. That's how it usually works. But, you know, I enjoy getting pictures.

On Memorial Day morning, I'll be getting up at about 7 a.m. to cover the Memorial Day ceremonies in a nearby town in the woods--about 15 miles away. I've been there before, and they have a nice little ceremony in a picturesque cemetery. Lots of green trees all around. We have a lot of trees up here, and they've been doing much better since we've finally been getting some rain in recent weeks. Very welcome.

***
A short note about the bear. He was seen near our office on Tuesday this week. The same young bear, with the injured paw. (I didn't see him, but someone else in our office did.) No word on him since then.

A bear in the air

Oh, do we have the critters for you this time! Nature has been bountiful around here, as you will soon see.

First of all, we have the robin family, currently residing in a quiet space inside our front porch. The last update I gave you showed that two babies had hatched. This was on May 13 ...


I have been stopping by to get updated photos every two days. So here are the two little robins, and how they grew:

On May 14 ...


On May 16 ...


On May 18 ...


On May 20 (today) ...


Alas, as you may have noticed, there is still some blue in the nest on the photos from the 16th and 18th. It was still there today. It seems that the mother robin will only have two hungry mouths to feed.

On Saturday, my wife and I drove down to Rhinelander, Wis., to get some items needed for our bathroom project--a new bathroom cabinet and some stuff for the new tub--shower curtain, shower, curtain rod, etc. The sliding doors will soon be history.

We got the cabinet in the car by folding the back seat down. Even so, it just barely fit. Next car I get, I think, is going to be a hatchback. We've run into major cargo shortages just too often with my little car. (Besides, I don't have to hide Christmas gifts in the trunk any more.)

I had taken the new camera along, in case we saw some wildlife. Nothing much except on the trip home, about five miles from home, when we saw about a half dozen deer just off the road, feeding on the fresh, new grass. I stopped about 100 yards beyond, but all but one of them ran away. I got two pictures from the front seat, through the rear window, but they were blurry. When I stepped out of the car, the last deer was gone, too. Darn.

But fate smiled on me Sunday.

I was working in the office, trying to get the last of the sports finished--there was lots of it this week--when the phone rang at about noon. A woman was on the line and asked if there was a photographer available: There's a bear in a tree near their home. It was about a quarter mile away, right in town.

I grabbed the office camera, and ran home to get my wife, who was about to take a shower. "Come on," I said. "We're going to see something fun." She quickly got dressed, got into the car, and we made the short trip. As I walked up, a squirrel ran across the grass where a number of people were standing around. "You wanted me to come here to get a picture of a squirrel???"

They laughed and pointed into a scotch pine (I think it was). And there sat in all his glory ...


He was about 30 feet up in the tree. He was looking down at us, and we were looking up at him ...


Someone said they had called the local police department, which told them to call the state Department of Natural Resources. So they did. And the DNR said they wouldn't do anything. Meanwhile, there the bear sat ...


Some of the people said that the bear had apparently hurt his left front paw somehow--he was limping. I figured that once everyone went away, he would climb down and amble away. But then he started getting restless and assumed the climbing pose ...


Down he climbed, the same way he had climbed up earlier. The people said he had been around there for much of the morning ...


I had told everyone to back off and give the bear a wide berth, so he would have an unobstructed escape path. Once he reached the bottom, he paused for a moment or two before running off on three legs ...


For a minute or two, he climbed up into a nearby maple tree. But then he climbed back down and hit the road ...


He ran off down a side street that dead-ends at the edge of a wooded area. We drove there a few minutes later but saw no trace of him.

That's OK. I had my pictures, and the bear (I think) was able to get back to his normal abode. Happy trails, Mr. Bear. And thank you for posing so nicely. Hope your paw gets better.

My wife and I agreed: Quite some eventful weekend.

Here and there

Tonight, I feel the urge to blather on about this and that. I don't usually do things like this. Usually I have a topic in mind and sometimes a few photos as well.

Not this time. No real destination in mind. No road map.

Yes, some stream of consciousness for the first time in a looooong time.

It's late night, and I'm getting tired. But I started iTunes and got the party shuffle working. That might move my brain cells. The first four: Chess Blues. Scott Joplin. The Who. And Jimmie Rodgers, the Singing Brakeman. Quite eclectic tastes, no?

I'm still watching a lot of hockey. The games are fun and exciting. My team, of course, is the Detroit Red Wings, and in recent years they do one of two things in the playoffs: (A) exit very early, or (B) go for a long run. This is one of those B years. They have advanced to the conference finals and lead Anaheim 2-1 as I write.

The frustrating part for me is that some of the games aren't on TV here (especially since I am recording them for another avid Red Wings fan/close friend). The local cable company has the wisdom to carry CBC, so we get the Hockey Night in Canada games. But HNIC is only carrying some of the Red Wings-Anaheim series, and the others aren't available--the cable system doesn't carry the service that broadcasts NHL games in the states. The Red Wings and Ducks are on CBC tomorrow night, though, and I'll be watching.

Hockey really is the only sport I feel a passion for now. I used to be a passionate baseball fan, but that has cooled off in recent years. Maybe I'll write more about the reasons sometime.

Well, maybe now.

When I was being raised in the Milwaukee area during the 1950s, the Milwaukee Braves were playing there, and I was a big fan of Hank Aaron. He became my favorite player when I was 7 (the year the Braves won the World Series; 50 years ago). This was only his fourth year in the major leagues. I remember when my dad took me and my brother and a neighbor kid to see him at a local lumber yard, where he was signing autographs, and they were giving out baseball bat-shaped pens. I told him, "Henry, you're my favorite player." And he didn't say anything and bent down to sign the next autograph--but I could see he was smiling.

Fifty years later, he is still my favorite player. Many years later, Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record and finished with 755.

And now we have Barry Bonds f.h. It seems inevitable now that Bonds is going to break Aaron's home run record later this year. Bonds--the player who is widely suspected of using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds, who only became a home run slugger in his mid 30s, long after a player's most productive hitting years. And now, he is about to break Aaron's home run record, and baseball won't do anything to stop it.

You may be asking yourself: Why did I write "Barry Bonds f.h." in the last paragraph. OK, if you really want to know, I will tell you.

I got the idea from reading some Islamic texts written in English, about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. After his name, they write p.b.u.h., which is an abbreviation for "peace be upon him." (Although I understand some scholars say this should not be abbreviated.)

"f.h." stands for what I say when I see Bonds on TV. It means "fuck him." When I see Barry Bonds f.h. on the sports news hitting a home run--or even striking out--I say "Fuck him!" Sometimes I mumble it. Sometimes I growl it. Sometimes I say it clearly and distinctly.

"Fuck" is a word I don't use very often. But for Barry Bonds f.h., it seems a suitable sentiment. And it makes me feel better about what is going to happen to record set by the player who is--still--my favorite baseball player. Aaron said he won't be around when Bonds breaks his home run record. I can't say I blame him.

The last thing on my mind is the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who died after being stricken on Tuesday. I don't know if any official cause has been announced, but it sounded like a heart attack.

First of all, Jerry Falwell was a honest, noble man. By that, I mean that he wasn't a hypocrite. He really believed in the things he said, and he walked his talk. Never involved in a scandal. He was genuine.

With that said, I think he did my country a great deal of harm by officiating at the marriage of politics and religion. As a result of his acts, many people now feel that government should regulate personal conduct and moral behavior. He helped people see issues as black-and-white, instead of millions of shades of gray.

What are the legacies of this? For one thing, many of his followers feel that only far-right Republicans will be admitted to Heaven--heard about a church recently that expelled some members who said they voted for John Kerry. That's tolerance for you. Well, that's the way it is. Today, America, for all its claims about diversity, is a very intolerant country. And we can thank Jerry Falwell and his holier-than-thou brethren for that.

Because of that, it has led many others, like myself, away from churches in general, on their/our own personal quest for a belief system freed from doctrine and dogma ... and, now, politics. A belief system where you really do follow Jesus' commandment that you love your neighbor, no matter who that neighbor is. A belief system that loves the earth. A belief system where having liberal, tolerant thoughts and beliefs is no mortal sin nor moral weakness.

I believe there are many roads to the same spiritual destination. Falwell picked his. They picked theirs. All of us picked ours.

So who is right? Maybe we all are ... if we really do follow that path.

Things to make you go "Awwwwwww"

Happy Day After Mother's Day to all! I would have written this up on Sunday, but mine was busy. David was over here for most of the day, and he mowed the lawn for us, which was mighty nice of him, since I had planned to do that. After supper, we watched the Red Wings' game, but the Ducks beat them in overtime. Darn.

It was also the day of our first thunderstorm of the year. That arrived after supper, during the game. Most of the lightning and rain stayed north of us, but we got some, and the thunder was nice and loud. More rain is in the forecast for tomorrow.

Mother's Day was a suitable day for my wife's big discovery. In the early afternoon, she called me over to the front door. It was Mrs. Robin. But this time she wasn't sitting on her nest. She was standing on the edge, and she had something in her beak. I quickly went to get the camera. The thing in her beak was gone by the time I got back. She was in the same pose, though ...


It had been a few days since we last looked, so when she flew away again, the chair and mirror quickly were brought out. And sure enough ...

The newest mother in town lives under our roof ... the roof of our porch.

I got my wife some flowers today, but most of our celebrating was done Saturday when we visited my mom. We took her out to dinner--this time at a regular restaurant. I ordered a tenderloin, my wife got spaghetti and meatballs, my mom got shrimp (which she needed help with) and David had chicken strips.

The highlight of the visit came after we returned her to the nursing home. That's when I gave her a project I had been working on over the last few months. Just a little photo album with pictures from over a long time.

This is my mom and her parents in the early 1940s. Her older brother was taking the picture and made a face at her. She said she made one back at him. A moment frozen in time ...


This is my dad (who badly needed a haircut) and his two sons. I'm the one in the middle ...


This one is of me, heading off to work once again on my bike, my dad's lunchpail in one hand and a cookie in the other. You get hungry during those long commutes, you know ...


Here are my mom and dad sometime during the 1980s. By that time, he had gotten a haircut ...


My dad died in 1995, and my mom lived by herself until she had a bad fall in September 2005 and had to go into the nursing home. This is her with her cat, from about 2004 ...

Notice the advertising flier over her ankles. Late in the afternoon, her cat would start getting hungry for her snack and would start biting my mom's ankles. Not hard, but enough of a pain that my mom would finally put down her reading and get up to fetch the cat snacks. After a while, we put ad sections over her legs and ankles to prevent the cat from going on ankle attack again.

Guess I don't have to tell you who ran that house.

Fuzzy bear

About the title: This is NOT about the Muppets' master comedian, Fozzie Bear. ("Wocka, wocka!")

This is about my latest little photographic escapade, which took place Wednesday afternoon. I have other news to tell you and photos to show, but since I have intrigued you with that title, I should lead off with that.

It happened during our same old trip to the same old destination on the same old road. We like that road because (A) it is much more level than the main road there, even if it is a Wisconsin state highway; and (B) it's a less populated, more natural area and a narrower road, so the prospects of seeing wildlife are better.

(FYI: Somewhere in that region many years ago, my mom and dad saw a cougar--it raced across the road ahead of them, but they both got a good look.)

Usually, my wildlife sightings here involve deer and surly turtles ...


On Wednesday at about 3 p.m., we were driving east when we saw a roundish dark shape moving across the road ahead of us. We realized what it was right away--a black bear. I started braking to get a picture, but the bear ambled off the road and into the woods. I stopped where he left the road and looked into the woods.

There he was, about 50 yards away. Just standing there, looking back at me.

By then, I had the camera out, the autofocus went to work, and I started snapping pictures from behind the wheel. Then I cautiously slipped out of the seat and crouched next to the car.

At about that time, a truck pulled up alongside. Someone from the Forest Service, curious to know why a eastbound car had pulled onto the shoulder on the westbound side of the road.

"There's a bear back there," I said. I tried to say it quietly, but the bear immediately turned and started loping away. In a second or two, he was gone.

Well, I had gotten a few pictures, at least. But when I got a chance to look at them, I saw something had gone wrong ...


The problem was obvious: The autofocus had locked onto the tree branches between him and me--but the bear was some distance behind those branches and so was out of focus. You can see the shape, but that's about all. Aren't the branches nice and sharp, though?

You see, I'm using my new camera, and I'm still a little unfamiliar with some of the features. If I had known it better (and had thought a little faster), I could have switched the lens from autofocus to manual focus, and then I would have been able to get the super sharp shot of the bruin I wanted.

Chalk it up to experience.

That's not the first time I have gotten a picture of a bear. In 2004, while driving my mom to visit her sister-in-law in the Twin Cities, I got this shot about 15 miles south of my mom's place ...


Last year, I got this picture of some bears crossing my father-in-law's property. They were posing so nice for me! And they do that every time we visit.


Then there was the bear that David fed at that wildlife park last summer ...


So I'm sure I'll get another chance at a bear someday. When it comes, I hope I'll be more ready than I was this week.

****
As you may know, I've been worried lately about the extremely dry spring weather we have been having. Other parts of the Midwest are battling floods, and we're high and dry.

It's eased a little bit. On Monday afternoon, while driving my wife on an errand, we ran into a little shower that was strong enough for me to switch on the intermittent wipers. Then, early Wednesday morning, we had some overnight rain that got the growing things going. It's still too dry here, but things are going in the right direction. The tree buds are starting to open, the leaves are popping up all over, and soon we will have flowers.

During our drive Wednesday (before and after the encounter with the bear), we saw the first trilliums of the year. I love trilliums. First of all, they are pretty flowers, but more importantly, they are the first flowers that bloom in the woods in spring: proof that winter is over.

I had promised some trillium pictures to S, so I hopped out to record the sight. Here are a few ...






One more update: the visitor on our front porch. Last week, we noticed Mrs. Robin had stepped out, so we got the chair, mirror and camera out to take a look. (If you don't know the procedure: I stand on the chair, hold the mirror in my left hand, point the camera at the mirror with the right hand and fire.)

Here is what the camera saw ...


We looked again yesterday, but nothing had changed. All three eggs are still beautiful, blue and unhatched. But we're keeping an eye on things. Our experience from last year tells me it shouldn't be long.

An interesting week

It's been an interesting, exciting week for me in a number of ways. We'll get into that in a few moments.

But first I want to thank you for the positive response to my last entry, the one with the questions and answers. Some of your comments were especially touching and loving, and they were so welcome. My friends over here are true friends, some of my closest friends, and I love all of you.

Some of you voiced the hope that someday we could meet. I got two such remarks from dear friends in the U.K. Considering that I am so poorly traveled (the opposite of well-traveled), I thought it was a very nice thing to say, but it probably will never happen. I mean, come on! Me? Travel? Overseas?

Then I was checking the e-mail this morning, and a miracle happened. I'm going to the U.K.!!! Really!!!

You don't believe me? Well, look at the e-mail for yourself:

Dear Sir/Madam, The United Kingdom Tourism Department is awarding a Gold Package Payout, and wishes to notify you that you have been selected. You are subsequently entitled to the Gold Package Payout for 2007. For further information, kindly confirm receipt of this email, by forwarding this message to: protocol.tourism.office@gmail.com Yours Sincerely, Protocol Officer Tourism Department "Promoting Tourism Business and Fair Trade"

What an incredible coincidence! A trip to England! I never would have believed it. And, if you think someone is trying to fool me, let me just say this: They sent this to me in an e-mail. An e-mail, mind you! They can't say things in an e-mail unless they're true. Right?

And I'll be able to pick up all the bills for rooms and meals once I reach England, too. I'll just use the proceeds of one of the U.K. lottery jackpots I've won over the last few weeks!!!

****

Back in the real world, my wife and I took a trip out of town on Wednesday. Destination: A Taste of Home Cooking School, about 100 miles away.

We have gone to them before, and my wife really enjoys them--she gets lots of recipes and coupons plus a night out of town. I wrote about last year's show, and I took the camera along again this time, in case we saw some critters or other interesting stuff along the way.

The critters stayed out of camera range, but the show produced some interesting shots.

Last year's show was in Marquette. This one was in Escanaba. Regardless of the site, they had a big turnout ...


The first thing we did after arriving was join a long line of people looking at the vendors' booths along the back wall. They had some food, cookware, housewares, plus plenty drawings to sign up for. That tended to slow the procession even more. You can't scribble your name and address and phone number while walking, try as you might.


Up front, a barbershop quartet group was serenading the audience ...

I think they were trying to lean back and forth in unison, but they didn't quite have it right here.

We both spotted some interesting sights. First, we found some jolly frogs ...


We saw a city skyline, made entirely of Tupperware ...


And we saw a mountain made entirely of pineapples ...


As was the case at last year's show, the Taste of Home presenter showed how to prepare about eight different recipes, making it look so easy. Thanks to that little white camera pointing down at the food preparation area ...


... we were able to follow along on a pair of wide-screen TVs on either side of the stage ...


Throughout the show, they had many drawings for prizes--cookware, cookbooks, even the meals they prepared during the show. The woman next to me won a Tupperware prize--two storage containers. Alas, woman on the other side of me, the one I drove to the event, did not win anything. Nor did I.

But she wasn't disappointed, and neither was I. It was a good show, and we had a good time. A long drive home--we got back about 11 p.m.

****

On Friday at about noon, I'm hitting the road (by myself) for southern Wisconsin and the group I've been meeting with for the last few years, as they hold their Beltaine observance on Saturday afternoon. They also have some trees to plant, and I'll probably be doing some of that, too. I'm supposed to bring (A) some garden tools, (B) a 20-foot ribbon for the maypole, (C) some goodies to share, and (D) myself.

The thing is, their weather forecast is calling for rain on Saturday. Up here, of course, we'll be high and dry. Southern Wisconsin gets the rain. Up north, the drought continues.

Friday night, I'll be staying with K, a friend of mine who lived in Rhinelander for years before moving to Madison. She is the woman with whom my wife and I stayed last summer when she took us to see all those creative cows in the downtown Madison area.

K said she has some exciting news, but she won't tell me until I get there. Hope we have something to celebrate.