Black Friday ~

A bizzy Friday eve here as BeBe helps Jacob and Nat assemble a nativity set she got today. Dr Brado should arrive home from the ER soon and then the serious Leftovers Grazing will begin.

The dinner last night was a feast of historic proportions. Head Chef Holly and Sous-Chef M accepted well-earned accolades from those of us whose primary contribution was Conspicuous Overconsumption. Turkey, ham, two kinds of dressings, two veggie casseroles (at least), two kinds of fruits salads, mashed and sweet potatoes -- oh yeah. The older two had a good time entertaining us with reprises of their preschool seasonal song performances. Rew called from a friend's apartment where about 16 folks had gathered for a mass TG dinner in LA and we had a nice chat. Afterwards we got the kids down and then chilled out chatting in the family room by the fire, marveling at the undeserved measure of our blessings.

Today the two Chefettes headed out into the Black Friday maelstrom toting Baby Brady while Caroline and I held down the fort with the older two. Eventually we loaded them into the Explorer and headed out to check on an RV park out near Opryland as a possible future camping site; now that this neighborhood is built out, sleeping in the A/Bus in the street may no longer be a multi-night option. The Jellystone Park folks let us do a drive-thru and we extended it a bit by letting the kids play at one of the two playgrounds there. Then we hit a McDonald's for lunch and came on back. C hit the gym for a workout while M got her hair done.

The weather has dulled somewhat from TG's perfection but remains relatively mild. We may get some showers overnight but the Big Chill won't hit until we roll out early Monday morning.

Hope things are as agreeable where you are.

Gobble gobble ~

Thanksgiving Day here in Brentwood has been memorable, and we haven't even had the Great Feast yet. Holly has brined the turkey and he's now in the oven, all 20lbs of him. Numerous side dishes are poised to go in the oven etc shortly, as the entire ballet is choreographed towards Dr Brado's arrival from his day shift in time for our 6:30p dinner. By working today and New Year's, he'll get a week off at C'mas.

Tuesday M&I came over the river and thru the woods, having a comfortable trip in the V-Van despite a dead battery at start-up and then a puzzling electronics failure in my newly-wired 12v sockets which deprived me of all my little travel aids. We made it here in a little over 12 hour despite a goodly number of stops and about an hour worth of snow squalls near Bristol. Welooked around Abingdon VA and marked it for a stopover on some future trip; the Virginia Creeper bike trail and the fancy Geo Washington Inn and the historic Virginia Theater are all there.

Yesterday M did some shopping while I played w/J-Man and Natalie and then we swapped roles. I had a new battery put in the van at WalMart since it seemed to have it original one still in it that had lost its oomph, and then did a complete re-wire of my auxiliary power system to correct whatever it was that was causing both my GPS's plus a new one I bought for troubleshooting to go dark. Imagine my surprise this morning when I discovered that whatever gremlins had worked their mischief before were stil present after my re-working. Colour me Not Pleased. I'm still thinking it thru.

Jacob, Nat, M and I all rolled to BNA to greet the arriving Caroline last eve, who appeared fresh from a day of horse-riding and an effortless flight out of Midway. On the way to the airport, I was enthusing to my young audience about the incredible speed of air travel, noting that C would accomplish what would be an all-day trip by car in the time it would take us to drive to the airport. The ever-circumspect J-Man thought for a moment and said, "Well, it IS a bit of a drive to the airport . . ."

This morning C&I were up by 0630 to head out for the Boulevard Bolt, an annual T'Gvg Day 5-mile race thru the gorgeous Belle Meade part of Nashville that is sponsored by several big churches and a synogogue that benefits the local homeless. It was a clear and crisp morning and almost 8,000 runners had signed up; C was sporting number 23 and I had 7728! The course ran along a gently-rolling divided parkway lined by homes that looked like an amped-up version of Old Upper Arlington (OH), with huge stately homes and mansions on both sides. C finished in 42+ minutes and I in 52+. I managed to lose my second iPod shoe amulet along the way, but otherwise it was a lot of fun and by far the largest group I've ever run with. When we got home Dr Brado was still here; things were slow in the ER and they told him to chill with the fam until things ramped up, which they did around 10:30.

It hit 60F here today and I washed the van, for the second time since we've had it. Holly and M took Brady Ben for a stroller ride while the older two napped, and then I got to hold and feed Young Master BB, who is a real sweetheart -- despite the fact that he spit up on me rather dramatically a couple times. M then took the older two out for some YardTyme to work off their energies. Now the Kitchen Work is proceeding with deliberate speed.

We miss Corelyn and Rew but look forward to the fact that in less than four weeks we'll all be back here. Woo hoo!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Turkey Day!

Over the River & Thru the Woods ~

It's raining steadily outside as we load up the V-Van (finally! a name!) for the morrow's trip of 680 miles to Bronwyn Manor. This afternoon I took time off from working on the Journal to wire in a new triple-socket 12v outlet, since the factory one keeps blowing fuses. Unfortunately, it won't carru enough amps to run the inverter so M can have 110v for the laptop, movies etc. Maybe I can whump sumthin' together in Nashville.
Also, I can't fine my electronic bag o' trix, a rat's-nest collection of gear that is normally in the garage. It must be in the A/Bus. So, no Sirius or radar detector either unless we swing by the RV in the morn. The lot probably won't be unlocked though.
Anyway, the van is rigged for M's comfort and I like driving it, so we'll let TRVLONN rest on his laurels.
We had a Board meeting tonite re the straw poll results. They weren't bad but it'll take a huge effort to get the votes necessary to pass it. Then we had a TJC rehrsl over here, preparing for our 12/7 Grand Illumination concert in C/W.
Time for The DriverDroid to catch some Z's. Nashville here we come!!

I Should Be Sleeping ~

. . . but here I yam in the office, playing back the CD of this evening's Three Jolly Coachmen concert in the Williamsburg Library's "Dewey Decibel Series," held in the initimate, acoustically-delicious 260-seat auditorium. Which, ahem, we sold out.
The bottom line is, it was a wonderful evening with a red-hot responsive audience that favoured us with a sustained double standing ovation, after the last song and again after the encore. The blend was good and the overt gaffes few.
The rest of the story is, had a little trouble getting my strumming up to speed for the first couple fast numbers, which is amazingly non-apparent on the recording. As is the real problemo I had, which were troubling hand cramps in my chording hand for about the first third of the second set. I knew I was at risk over the intermission but thought I'd make it through okay; imagine my surprise when my last two fingers locked up in the first chords of the first song of the second set. Not good, I thought. I staggered thru it and then furiously bent my fingers back between numbers and stuck in a repeat of Peter's "Scotch & Soda" (in which I don't play) since his mike had gone dead the first time he did it. It loosened up and got close to normal by the end -- at which time my strumming hand started acting up.
The culprits are age, insufficient practice, and mostly, my failure to hydrate and load up on potasium. I shoulda spent the day drinking Gatorade and downing bananas like a crazed chimpanzee.
Anyway, the show went very well and my stage chatter was really "on," which is always nice. We got to pump our Grand Illumination and First Night shows. The comments afterwards were most gracious. It doesn't get any sweeter. It's such a blessing to get to do it.
Last night we went to the Club for dinner and wound up sharing a table with Ted and Zandra Cornell; he's the fabulously talented and unfailingly gracious and humble director of music at the Chapel. They were just back Billy Graham's 90th birthday celebration; he says Dr Graham is wheelchair-bound and partially deaf and blind, but his spirit remains strong. What a heavenly welcome party is in store for HIM.
The Rew called about 11:45pm and we chatted for almost an hour, which is always a treat. And Caroline had called yesterday afternoon for a good catch-up. And Tuesday morn we'll roll for Brentwood for Thanksgiving. Woo hoo!
A good day for the pigskins; I hear OSU walloped Michigan and Wm & Mary came back from a 20-0 deficit at halftime to take the Univ of Richmond into overtime; they lost by a field goal but did themselves proud to come back like that.
Well, the concert is over. Better get to bed.

Frostiness ~

Not to beat a frozen horse here, but my, winter has arrived with Determination this year, and ahead of schedule. Of course we here in The Burg have somewhat weenier standards for this; it did, after all, get into the low 50's here today. But another fairly brutal blast of cold air will descend tomorrow, and when they're this strong we get swept under the cold carpet along with everyone else. As the airmass settles in our Moderating Influence, Mr Ocean, makes himself felt, and we are cheered.

Speaking of carpets, today I unleashed Roombas I and II in the same room and watched them scurrying about, occasionally running into each other and ocasionally following one another around. It's all random behavior and I'm afraid it's almost twice as mesmerizing as watching one of them. M occasionally observes that if I'm standing their watching our robot(s), they're not really saving me any time. There's a point there, I suppose. I need some grandkids around to watch them with me.

The older one (Roomba, not grandkid) has lately begun exhibiting some aberrant behavior, coming to a stop and then doing a series of spins and thrusts as though it is trying to escape from an invisible box just a few inches larger than it is. Removing and replacing the battery -- always a good shot-in-the-dark with electronic brainiacs -- proved unavailing. Interestingly, the iRobot website has a number of short videos of Roombas Behaving Badly and if you find one that mimics what yours is doing, they suggest the cause and fix. I found one clip of the same little OCD Mambo and tried cleaning the sensors they suggested. It seems to have helped, but we'll see on his Next Assignment.

I would never suggest something as potentially suicidal as surprising one's bride or sweetheart with a Roomba for Christmas. It might be miscontrued. But M has seen how they do on the vacuuming (which in our economy is my job) and has a Scooba, the floor wet-scrubbing model (which generally is her job), on her C'mas list. [She's going to get it -- as she knows, since she bought one at the Linens-n-Things close-out. But she can't use it yet.] They are handy devices, fer sure.

I'm unwinding tonight from a Great Snit I entered about 24 hours ago upon discovery that the rump dissident group's public bulletin board, which they advertize as open to all non-golf members, has spiked a couple submissions favoring the Board on which I serve because, transparently, they don't agree with the postings. Since I had repeatedly represented to others that they were more honourable than to do something like that, I fired off a paint-peeling missive to the guy I believe is running it (they won't say or post who is) at about 0100 and didn't really cool down until later today. Their audacity and duplicity continues to amaze and disappoint, however. Hopefully my grenade lobbed over the transom is causing them to squirm at least a little.

Anyway, all that psychic energy, combined with my famous soup-n-salad diet for the past couple days, has caused the last of my Cruise Pork-Up to finally metabolize away, leaving me back at about 161. A few more and I'll be good to go for Turkey Day. Gobble gobble! It's probable that by a week from tonite, it'll all be back.

The Coachmen minus Leader Peter met here tonight to brush ourselves up for the Saturday eve concert, which was featured in three different spots in today's Gazette, two with pictures. The library venue says pre-sales are good and since it seats only about 240, we could sell out.

On that happy note, I shall retire. Happy Friday ~

The Big Chill ~

An overused but apt title this time of year as the first real cold snap settles into Tidewater. This second blast of cold air came in late Sunday and as I left for DC on a sunny Monday morning, I decided my sport coat was all I needed for warmth. When I got out at the Costco in Fred'burg for gas ($1.68! Woo hoo!) I realized I had miscalculated just a tad; the sun was gone, the wind was blowing, and temps were in the 30's. Yowzers! Global warming alert! Just Saturday we had 80F here.
As I rolled northward I got a call from the LPBA Executive Director, asking me to confirm that I was planning to attend the meeting in person. Yes, I said, I'm on the interstate now. Are you close? she asked, which I thought was odd, since the "where-does-LPBA-go-from-here" session wasn't scheduled to begin until 1pm and it was only 10am. Not especially, I said, why? Whereupon she reminded me there was also an Exec Committee meeting in the morning which I had completely spaced. D'oh!
The afternoon meeting went okay. Like many charitable/professional organizations, LPBA is struggling with declining membership, especially this year. So everyone thrashed around with What Must Be Done. Fortunately we have a rainy-day fund that can keep us afloat for several years even if the sky falls in. We're hoping many of our members who haven't renewed were flummoxed by this year's electronic-only notices, so we're reverting to snailmail and hitting 'em again.
It was interesting to hear from a couple of respected economists on the news who have written for Time that they expect a recovery beginning late Winter. Sounds reasonable to me, though I'll sure miss the cheap gas. I filled the tank on the van yesterday for $35; last time I did it, before the cruise, I groused to M that it had cost $77. I find it interesting how little news attention this gets; remember all the stories of anguish and heartache as prices went thru the roof? Where are the ones now of people turning handsprings and ordering rounds of pizza and breadsticks for the fam with the money they're saving?
We had a great chat with The RewCor the other night, out in heat-soaked LA where it's been topping 90F for several days nows. Her new job is going great and the company prides itself on treating its employees well, so it looks like a good fit. Now that she's driving to work, Rew is learning pleasures of Pubick Transportation. You can get the very amusing details at RewAllen.com.
We had a trio rehearsal Sunday afternoon and sales for our concert this Saturday night are reportedly going well. Nice to hear since we get half the "gate." Dwight & Robin are coming down and it will be good to spend some time with them.
Today M and I each had meetings all afternoon today, M with the Gourmet Group and me at the Club. Then she had a professional association meeting this evening while I attended the annual meeting of our GovLand homeowners association which somehow is utterly bereft of the llamadrama that goes with the Club.
It's 33F outside with window-rattling winds. I saw a few flakes today and there's on-shore snow squalls over in Norfolk right now, coming in off the warm waters of the Bay.
Kinda cozy. Time for bed.

Summer reprise ~

That it was today as a pre-cold front surge of warm, humid air brought Florida-like skies and temps that blossomed to 80F as winds from the south rocked the trees. I didn't see any of it until almost 10am, since I'd hit the hay about 0200 after two nights of fairly short sleep.

M went out and exercised while I frittered away the fair part of the day catching up on e-mail and the like. Then we had a pleasant glass of wine on the deck before heading down to the Club for an early dinner which started on the verandah, moved into the screen porch, and finally into the Ospey Grill as the beautiful sunset skies began spitting rain. But it was a lovely dinner, our first at the Club since the cruise. [As usual, this blog has posted the photos in the reverse order of my selection, and not where I want them.]

Thursday we rolled on up to DC and after a pleasant visit and bag-drop at Joe Beene's, we headed downtown where we enjoyed a leisurely meal at Legal Seafoods in DC at a table overlooking the street. A motorcade came by which may have been Obama. We then headed over to the Shakespeare where a Restoration-period comedy called "The Way of the World," which was well-done and quite funny.

After a wunnerful breakfast cooked by Joe and some more coffee and conversation, we eased on out and headed downtown where I attended a retirement party for an expert witness I've known for 30 years. His daughter organized it and a lot of old friends were there; it was 5pm by the time I left.

M meanwhilst was having a great time over at Pentagon City, paricularly at Linens 'n' Things bankruptcy close-out. She'd called me to report they had a great price on Scoobas, the cousins of our vacuum robot Roomba, which wet-cleans hardwood floors, and asked if we should get one. I was forced to reveal that I'd planned to get her one for C'mas so she should go ahead. When I got there I found they had several display model Roombas of the newer generation and, unable to help myself, I got one of those too at a good price. Scooba goes under the tree; Roomba II got his test run today and did great. It's very interesting to see a number of upgrades in the sophistication of its operation; for one thing, the new one "sees" obstructions and slows down before bumping into them, whereas the old one flies blind and goes charging into things at full speed. The new ones have more sophisticated "escape strategies" and handle problems like rug fringes and edges with greater aplomb. And they're quieter and inhale more. Two thumbs-up.

We left Pentagon City and journeyed out to the new Lord of Life West church in Centerville. It's slightly larger than the original and has been open since August. They did the sanctuary with some stage-friendly features and so they're doing the Players' productions out there now.

The show was the beloved "Music Man" and we were all misty about Rew's debut as Winthrop in 1995 (when I reprised my 1965 role as Harold Hill's sidekick Marcellus). We were warmly greeted by a passle of old friends, most of whom also remembered Rew before we reminded them. Good friend/stage star/Spiritwind comrade Suzy McCarthy was director and Paul Denfeld (same descriptions) played Harold Hill to perfection. Marian the Librarian was a new face and had a stunningly fine voice.

The young man who played Winthrop did a creditable job but (of course) paled by comparison to The Rew. Behind us sat Don Nelson, an older gentleman who did some shows with us and has never been afraid to speak his mind. When the play was over he leaned up and said quite loudly, "Winthrop was okay, but Andrew was MUCH better!"

Afterwards Pastor Qualley was kind enough to show us all around the new church and confirmed his interest in having the Coachmen up for a concert. We're eager for a Road Trippe and will see if we can work something out. Speaking of the Coachmen, yikes! We have our concert in the Wmsburg Library theater (part of their "Dewey Decibel Series") a week from tonite and will be brushing up here tomorrow afternoon, as well as learning the Trio's C'mas numbers for our three Grand Illumination joint appearances with Tim Seamans, renowned local musician of many talents/instruments. The latter gigs have Peter very nervous and it is proving especially difficult to get rehearsal times we can all agree on for that one.

Dr Brado had a blast of Good Newz the last couple days: a fine review from his fellow doctors/practice owners AND notification that he passed his medical board four-hour oral exam (in Chicago last month) with flying colors. Thus he is now Board-certified in Emergency Medicine, a credential which he notes took him eight years of study, work and exams to obtain. He now gets an eight-year respite from further exams and certifications before he has to renew this one.

Ms Caroline meanwhile hit the theater with 25 of her closest friends Friday nite for the new 007 movie. She went in with high hopes and came out with a firm "save your money." We'll see what Rew has to say.

Saddle-sore but satisfied ~

A wonderful couple of Fall days here in the Burg; what a great time of year this is here. Let's see if I can remember what we've been up to.

Ahh yes, yesterday I began my Veterans' Day observance with a nice jog thru the sunshine and brilliant fall colours. When I got back I used my iPod jog-tracker to discover that it takes me 27 minutes to mow the whole yard and burns 100 calories. There will be a quiz.

M had a great pot of her cream of chicken soup waiting inside so I threw lo-carb to the wind and enjoyed a bowl or two. Then I headed upstairs for a nap. One thing did not lead to another and I wound up sleeping about 45 minutes and then just lounging and channel-surfing for two more hours. How deliciously indolent.

M had hoped to do our Second Annual Fall Bikeride to and Around Jamestown Island yesterday but I begged off, noting I was bushed from jogging. When M came back from Kiwanis this morning I noted we needed a trip to Costco, but she had not forgotten the bikes and pointed out this was our last chance for several days and the leaves are really starting to fall here. So surprise! off we went.

It was cloudy but now and again the clouds thinned and enough sun was added to really bring out the fall colors. The ride is beautiful, down rt 5 to Greensprings Road and then down to the Parkway, which leads to a road across an isthmus to the Island. And on the island is a 5-mile paved loop. What you see along the way is utterly untouched and doubtless looks as it did in colonial times. A couple of buck deer appeared and many more could be heard thrashing around in the brushy woods.

Of course M and I now lift a world-savvy eyebrow at the breathless signboard descriptions of "ancient" paths and roads dating back to the 1600s. Two weeks ago today we were atop Agamemnon's palace, circa 1400 BC. We know from Ancient.

We went to the museum and had a light lunch in their cafeteria and then re-toured the grounds and the reconstructed village that used to sit where our Club now is. Finally we headed home. I had 24.7 miles on the Trek's trip odometer by the time we got here and it felt good to get off the saddle for the day.

This eve we dined out with 14 other couples in "Reservations Only" and had a very enjoyable evening. By noon tomorrow we'll be headed twds DC in a minor deluge, bound for a Shakespeare play. We'll stay with our friends the Beenes again and then I'll attend (and speak at) a surprise retirement "roast" of a guy I worked with Friday noon in DC. Friday eve we'll journey to the new Lord of Life West campus for "The Music Man," starring my old stage and S'Wind buddy Paul Denfeld, and then drive home.

Should be fun.

A Fall Day in Governor's Land ~

As usual, the photos post in reverse order so the day's story will be a leetle backwards, picture-wise.
This morning we had a nice visit with Tim & Valerie Cook, old friends from legal circles; Tim was at DoJ when I was a young pup at FAA and then went to CA to seek (and make) his fortune as an avn plaintiffs' lawyer. He was also prez of LPBA when I was asked to take over as Editor of the Journal. More recently, it's developed that they're good friends of the Hesses, a Wycliffe family in Papua who are good buds with the Moxness clan.
Anyway, they have a daughter here in the Burg and so came out to see us before heading north to Annapolis (to which they plan to relocate from LA). We had a nice visit and enjoyed showing them Greystone on a spectacular Fall day.
Afterwards it was so beautiful that we headed out for a half-lap of the golf course/marina loop, and then came back to check for a missing cookbook aboard the A/Bus.

I fired up the engine, the aux generator, and all the A/Cs to exercise everything. "I think I'll take it out for a spin," I said to M. "Want to come, or want me to drop you at the house?" Then it occurred to me it would be a great day for another A/Bus Picnic down by the James, so we loaded up on salad makings and headed on down there. We had salads and then sat outside reading books, looking out over the river and marsh and colours.
Caroline called as the sun was sinking low and we had a nice chat. Her soccer team had a great but exhausting run at the league championship over the weekend, losing the final game 0-1 after playing to near-exhaustion in the semi-final just before -- in the snow. She sounded good and we're looking forward to seeing her at Dr Brado's for Thanksgiving.
We came home and I dropped off M before putting the A/Bus to bed and walking home as darkness fell. A spectacular day.

We went back for another of the revival/healing services at the UMC and it was full. The guest preacher told the story of a three-day session he was to conduct in central Illinois at another small evangelical Methodist church that was so successful that it continued six nights a week for 27 weeks a couple summers ago -- until the Methodist bishop for that synod fired the host pastor and ordered the church to immediately stop the services. People were showing up at 10am to get a seat for the 7pm services. Can't have that going on.

Turns out that the library theater gig we're doing on the 22nd is now being promoted with radio spots on two of the Burg's FM stations. Dwight & Robin say they're coming ~ and they haven't even heard the spots!

Time for bed.

There Goes the Neighborhood ~

This afternoon the Three Jolly Coachmen finally tried our long-discussed, never-done foto shoot in Colonial Williamsburg. Greg's son Ryan took the primary pix but M did a mean job shooting (97!) backups, a substantial number of which turned out really well. The first one here is one of hers, the others are by Ryan. There are many, MANY more.

It was a perfect Fall afternoon in the Burg and CW was hummin'. One thing we frankly didn't anticipate was that when you show up with instruments and stage togs, people start saying, "Oooo, you're going to sing, right??" Well, twist our arm . . . after the opening shots you see on the top here, we broke into "Three Jolly Coachmen" and immediately drew a substantial and appreciative crowd, so we did another one. They loved it; cameras and flip-phones were firing everywhere. The coaches we were seeking as our prime backdrop began to appear, back from their luncheon rest period, so we gained permission of a couple of the drivers to shoot some pix around their carriages. "You have to sing for us," one said, so guess what? We did. And again a gratifying crowd immediately formed.
I felt a leetle uncertain about our activities since we had no license and were not exactly a colonial act -- though we could note that we were playing at two upcoming CW functions (Grand Illumination and First Night). Greg spied some CW cops and marched right over to talk to them. They said as long as we weren't accepting money or passing out handbills, things were cool.

We worked our way on down Duke of Gloucester (DOG) Street and back up again, stopping at about half a dozen venues and usually doing a couple songs at each after some posed stills. Several people drifted along with us so as (they said) to hear more. Lots of locals wanted to know when we were performing again and it was nice to have three big dates to give them.
After about 90 minutes we called it an afternoon. As we walked back to the car I said to M, "Do you have any idea how much fun that was??" She said yes, she did, she could see it. What a wonderful blessing.
Friday I wound up spending most of the day doing stuff in the office, though I did get out to enjoy the perfect Friday by doing a jog with my resuscitated body and iPod. I also kept two of the big sound systems (office and family room) cranked up for the day on the cable Classic Country station and poor M was almost flattened by the Wall o'Sound when she came in the door from her day in DC about 9pm.

Saturday was a rainy day as the big cold front eased thru and so we stuck pretty close. I spent several hours drafting my first posting on the public forum maintained by the dissident Club members. Lowering myself into the tar pit, fer sure, but it was time for an Opposing View. At night we had Gourmet Group and it was a nice group of four couples.
This morning I hit the Chapel for the 0900 service and then met M for the 1045 at New Town UMC, where they were featuring a healing minister from New Zealand who's doing services for the next four nights.
He has quite a story; had his entire stomach removed over the course of three cancer surgeries and wound up a walking skeleton, desperately traveling from one healing practitioner to another all over the world. Finally he encountered a Messianic Jew from Richmond who'd become an Episcopal minister in London (!) who was featured at a Methodist conference in Pensacola. Got that?? To make a long story short, this Jewish pastor and a bunch of charismatics lurking in the conference audience laid the healing hands on him and he began feeling blast after blast of power coursing thru his body over about a 30-minute session. Within a couple hours, he ate his first meal in four years, piling his plate high with fried chicken and mashed potatoes, things he'd only dreamed of eating; when he was eventually re-checked by his doctors, they found all the organs that had been removed -- stomach, gall bladder, etc etc -- were back.

He received an explicit message from the Almighty that he was to give thanks for his gift by being a healing agent for others, so that's what he and his wife have done, world-wide. Some of the stories he told, backed up by local newspaper accounts shown on the overheads, were real New-Testament style healings; sight restored to a man long blind, Alzheimer's gone in an instant, folks walking out of wheelchairs. While I believe God is fully of capable of doing such things, and did regularly in early NT times, I am quite circumspect about "healers" these days. This guy seemed to me to be the Real Deal, from everything I could tell. Plus which, I find that the presence of the Spirit is evidenced, in my case, by unbidden tears and goosebumps that can come even if I'm sitting there thinking about the weather. And that happened today when they began the laying on of hands. It sure looked and felt like the Lord was doin' bizness there today.

We had our small group this evening and that went well. Some of our folks are dealing with difficult things and are comfortable sharing 'em with the group, which of course is an honor.

This will be an interesting week; inthe morning some LPBA friends from the West Coast who have family here are dropping by for brunch. They're interested in maybe doing a house swap from time to time. Thursday nite we have the Shakespeare in DC, Friday noon I have a retirement party to attend downtown, and then that night we're going to the new Lord of Life West facility to see their production of "The Music Man."

Have a good week, everyone ~

Insulated ~

A sparkling Friday morning here in the Burg, as the sun finally cuts thru the clouds and highlights the water droplets still clinging to everything. M has headed up to DC for a conference but we've got the termite guys coming back to re-hang and replace some insulation under the house, so I'm on Reception Duty.

On the same duty yesterday, I was here to sign for the delivery of the carpet runner we bought in Turkey. I waited for M to get home and in a moment pregnant with trembling anticipation, we unrolled it in its new front-hallway home to see if it looked as good here as it did in Kusadasi. It did. Whew.

Today will mark my re-entry to the World of Fitness, as my cold abates and I resume the jogging and biking so necessary to shedding the waistline souvenir of my 28 days of shameless culinary indulgence aboard the m/s PRINSINDAM last month. I was pretty good about exercising aboard ship, which is the only reason my task is within reasonable, if not easy, grasp. With the Holiday Season looming ahead, this a matter of some urgency.

Actually I was doing pretty well this week, down a pound or two already, when Someone in this house broke the seal on the bag of FoodShouldTasteGood brand multigrain tortilla chips from Costco that we had on hand for "entertaining." That was day before yesterday, and that bag is now gone. Tortilla chips of any description are right behind the snack before which I am utterly, completely helpless: trail mix. Then there were the redskin peanuts at the Club functions the past two nights. Bottom line: my bottom line remains Expanded, right back at the poundage of my first day back.

Unusual News dept.: Caroline e-mailed a picture taken by her roomie's fiance of their condo/apartment building with a Chicago firetruck smashed surprisingly deep into the corner of the building.

I continue to figger out this new blog site -- not that it's that complicated, umfortunately. It looks nice, I think, but in some ways it seems inferior to even to AOL's clunky system, as I can't figure out how to re-enter a posted entry to correct the mistakes that inevitably escape my proofing. And when you post pictures, they appear in reverse order of selection, and I haven't been able to re-arrange them. Hopefully I'm just missing something.

I'm contemplating posting all of my Cruise Reports, which originally went out as BerryMails to a number of selected luckless family & friends. That would enable me to post a few of our 845 pictures (and even a few videos, it appears) in a context that would make more sense. Raise your hands if you'd like this. (hey hey, THAT's not polite!)

Looks like the insulation guy is here. One good thing about the Downturn: it seems there's little waiting to get someone out to your house.

Trip pix II

Trip pix I

St Paul's speech on the Acropolis in Greek on a rock there.




On an Athens street, a soap opera shooting goes down.






This was the area where Paul spoke. Obviously it was a bit more developed then.





Athens landscape.

The Acropolis as seen from our room in the Hotel Astor.

Watercolours ~

M keeps pointing out the beauty of the fall colours hereabouts. She's right, of course, but the water-soaked dreariness of the recent days' weather and the curtain of dullness draped over my brain by this cold have affected my enjoyment of it all. Plus my voluntary confinement to quarters to try to get on top of this cold. The latter effort is succeeding but it's gonna take several more days for my head to un-tighten.

I'm not complaining about the weather, though, especially since M&I view it as Taking One for the Team. As Dr Brado and family were launching for Florida last weekend, the Wx Channel was devoting minutes at a time to the "cut-off low" they expected to develop over the Sunshine State which, they predicted, would dump rain on Central Florida virtually the whole time the Nashville crew was to be there. M promptly started praying about it and voila, the low escaped Florida, never to darken its skies, and scooted up to become the considerable mid-Atlantic coastal storm of the last few days. Better us than them.

In fact, that storm has produced far more in the way of wind than any of the much-ballyhooed tropical storms etc that tracked thru here in late summer. In those instances, there were warning, advisiories, etc etc and the winds never topped maybe 25mph. THIS time, the house was filled with sound of the moaning winds, the trees rocked back and forth, and for many hours yesterday the steady wind was in the mid-20's with gusts to the low 40's. The NWS noted this in its routine forecats but made no fuss about it. If I were a non-tropical storm, I would feel Dissed.

Brady called late yesterday afternoon to report that after three fun-packed days in MouseWorld, they were happily satiated and heading home today. He noted J-Man, unlike his grandfather (who would not ride roller-coasters until well into his teens), is a coaster fiend and rode a couple of adult-grade rides. Natalie enjoyed age-appropriate attractions and was mesmerized by all the princesses and living cartoon characters. Jacob immediately appreciated that it wasn't REALLY Donald Duck but had to be a person inside a costume. However, he WAS taken in by the roles played by actual people such as Snow White. In fact, as they walked by her castle late one evening Jacob said they should be quiet because "they might be sleeping" inside.

Tidewater Life: the termite man came today to do their annual inspection on Greystone. Termites and climate-induced wood rot are no joke down here and people take 'em seriously. The guy spent over an hour inside and under the house and gave it a clean bill of unbugginess.

Last eve the Coachmen were the featured act at the Grove Christian Center fundraiser at our Club. Some friends of ours organized the event and it was attended by over 150 people. Interestingly, in the live-auction part, a personal appearance by our group went for $700, to a couple from Ford's Colony. We'll do the gig sometime this spring at their house. They didn't get to our part of the evening until 8:45pm and by then the audience was chatty and restless. We did about 20 minutes worth and called it a night. Happily, my voice did fine, fortified by heavy doses of cold medicine.

On the Magic Carpet front: our Cruise Memorial Turkish Rug (runner, actually) arrived this afternoon. M is out having her hair done so I'll wait for her before deploying it.

That's about it from here. Happy Friday ~

New Beginnings ~

It's morning again in America on this post-election day, an historic one indeed. While Obama was not My Man, I see much value in his election whether or not I agree with some (or most) of his policies. I think the time had come for the GOP to surrender the reins to the party that thinks it has all the answers, and we'll see how or whether they deliver. And the election of an Afr-Am is a truly heartening development; I just wish it could've been Condi Rice, for example.

It's also a New Beginning for my blogging activities, inasmuch as AOL unceremoniously pulled the plug on theirs as of three minutes before I walked back in Greystone's front door at 12:03am Friday night. I'd received their warning shortlyafter we left on the cruise, telling me that unless I transferred my account to Blogspot.com, all previous blogs -- three year's worth, in my case -- would evaporate into the ozone. Probably a merciful result, in the end, and despite my frantic efforts at a couple of internet cafes abroad, I was unable to get the Blog Migration to work. So poof!, all the old stuff is gone. Buh-bye. And thanks fer nuthin', AOL.

And today is the double birthday of Brother Dwight and his daughter Carolyn Dubois! Woo hoo! I always know how old Carolyn is because her birthday came the week after I met Miss Marie Bouknight and my adventures in taking care of young Jennifer Allen while Dwight & Robin left D's birthday dinner celebration for the hospital and Carolyn's arrival was one of the first stories I related to Miss Bouknight at our next encounter at Foundry choir. So Happy 38th, Carolyn! (Dwight is now old as dirt and so we won't mention his age here.)

Our trip home from Greece was a 23-hour door-to-door marathon with the usual glitches; they lost M's suitcase, for example, and we had a wild goose chase at EWR trying to find the gate for our last flight leg. But we arrived safe and sound to find Greystone as we left it (cleaner, actually, thanks to having had a lady come in the day we arrived) and our brains full of happy memories.

I also arrived with the head-n-chest cold that hit on Thursday and I'm only now beginning to get out from under it. It's probably the same bug M (and half the ship) had and I'm very grateful I got it as the curtain came down on the trip. The most interesting consequence of this will be played out tonight, however, as the Three Jolly Coachmen are doing a benefit concert at the Club tonite for the Grove Community Center, an outstanding local charity (and the one to which we donated the Explorer). We rehearsed last eve and I was beset from time to time by uncontrollable coughing fits. I think our portion of the program may be limited to maybe three to six songs rather than the usual 15-20 we do and so I believe I can get thru it with the good Lord's grace.

Of course it's been wonderful to talk to the kidz again and catch up on their doings. Dr Brado et famille are enjoying their very first family Disneyworld trip this week; Rew and Corelyn are celebrating Corelyn's great new job which she'll start next week; and Caroline has been enjoying her usual smorgasbord of Social Engagements and challenging assignments at work.

Another New Beginning is the thinned herd in the GWA Motor Pool, which has shrunk from six to three in the last six weeks. Gone to auction were the venerable Rolla and the latest ('02) HNDYCAM; Caroline's beloved XPLR, as mentioned, went to Grove and then to a woman who needed a big vehicle to haul herself to work and her family around. I felt like I was kicking kids utta the nest but had to admit that six cars for three drivers made little sense. Left standing are TRVLONN and, somewhat surprsiningly, the '04 Chevy Venture minivan that I thought I was buying just for wedding transportation purposes. But when the Xplr flunked inspection and both M and I had noted how handy it is to have a van around again, I decided to slap a hitch on it and keep it. (The third car, of course, is the Bavaria, which remains slumbering in Benign Neglect in the garage for now, its future perhaps more uncertain than previously.)

This morning I have a Club committee meeting, and another tomorrow that I'm chairing. As I think I noted, I decided not to run for a three-year Board term when my current appointment expires on January 1st, for a variety of reasons, none of which reflect negatively on the experience I've had. If the Club overhaul initiative passes I may well run again in future years; for now I've delivered up a guy I recruited to take my place that I feel real good about.

Monday eve M&I were driving home from some errands and as we came out Monticello Rd, came upon several cars and a motorcycle stopped by the road; there were mechanical pieces all over the road. As I pulled over I noted what was left of a second motorcycle lying on its side on the shoulder, headlight still blazing, its front wheel gone and bodywork scattered all around. Not good. I figured as a biker I should at least stop to make sure help was on the way.

I got out and asked a black guy about my age who had also stopped what was going on and whether there was anything I could do. "That lady up there in that first car apparently hit this bike," he said. I looked up and down the road and the people standing around for somebody with a helmet, either erect or otherwise; there were two motorcycles there, after all.

"Where's the rider of this one?" I asked, nodding my head towards the pitiful remains of what had been maybe a 600cc-class sportbike.

"He's gotta be over there," my friend said, gesturing off into the blackness beyond the Armco barrier that bordered this gentle bend in the road. "I just don't have the stomach for it, to go looking."

My own knees weakened as I devoutly wished Dr Brado were at hand. In the breeze I wondered if I had just heard a faint moan from over in the darkness. I thought about climbing over the barrier and looking, and evaluated what I could do if and when I found the rider. Nothing from a triage point of view; unlike my son, I have zero tolerance for physical injury/mayhem and know only enough to not do anything when untrained. Could I say a comforting word, or would I wind up gagging?

I looked down the road towards the fire/rescue station, only about a mile distant, and decided it would be more prudent to leave the SAR tasks to the guys paid to do it. Determined not to hang around as a looky-loo, I got in the car and drove off; we passed the crash wagon going the other way in about 30 seconds. That made me feel a little better, but not much.

There's been nothing in the local paper or news, so heopefully the results weren't as bad as I feared. Hopefully the fallen rider will have some new beginings himself.

No thanks to me, though.