A Hole in My Floor & More Gardening

Mike came and cut a hole in my living room floor on Friday. (He also drove in so we could go to hear the John Prine Concert) After pulling up the oak hardwood we found the ugliest dark brown linoleum we've seen in years. It's that awful stuff they put on the schoolroom floors in the 1950s....it was ugly then and hasn't improved with age. That went too, but I wore a particle mask so I didn't breathe the asbestos that was undoubtedly in it. After Mike attached the cement board the "hole" thing didn't look so ugly. The next challenge will be to lay the tile in my Navajo Blanket pattern and successfully carry the pattern up the wall. I can see how to do the floor part and keep the lines straight, but the wall piece bothers me. My vision is so prone to "list to port" (even my photos often lean 2 degrees left) that I fear that part will be the most difficult for me. Add to that the fact that nothing in my house....walls, floor, anything.....is level and it should be interesting at the least.


My day today began with Edna's gladiola bulbs. Edna had phoned Friday to say she'd bought bulbs and would I put them in her yard and mine. They are a beautiful dark purple. I chose to put them in the strip of ground that belongs to me while the view belongs to Edna. About 11:00am I figured, if I worked fast, I could get her bulbs planted before the dark clouds opened to give a rain storm. I donned gloves, brought my yellow bucket for weeds, a trowel and weeder and set to work. Got the bulbs in fine...no rain. Her front planter was full of dandelions and weeds, as was her grass. Pulled all the dandelions, pulled all the weeds in the planters, planted an Irish Cream Rose for her, scattered flower seeds in her planters and in mine.....no rain. Put Weed & Feed on both front lawns and half of my back lawn, discovered the rest of my Weed & Feed had gotten wet, ran to the garden center, bought more Weed & Feed plus 5 tomato plants and one Jalapeno pepper........no rain. Planted Jalapeno pepper and then tomatoes in red mulch plastic....no rain. The tomatoes look weird in that plastic stuff but it's supposed to make a better crop of fruit. We'll see. Finished putting the Weed & Feed on the back lawn, watered everything, planted two hydrangea plants from Lana's cuttings, gave all my veggies and flowers some long-acting plant food and still no rain!!! By 5:00pm I was beat! My yard looks like a garden again, stuff is growing (weeds as well, darn it) and looks like I will have a nice yard again this summer. It's now 7:45pm and it still hasn't rained, though the clouds remain around the edges. What a beautiful day. Perhaps Spring really will come and Summer to follow. I just love it here!!!!

Bucolic

I had intended to caption this BLOG as "Distant Showers and Cows in the Sun." But then I looked at the photos and the word "Bucolic" kept flashing. So, there it is.

Actually, it sort of epitomizes Oregon in the Spring. Showers and Sun. If you're not happy with the weather, wait a few mintues.....you'll soon have something else to choose from.

Scappoose Bay is beginning to be my stand-by place for photos. It seems to offer a new vista each time I drive by. Fortunately, the road is less traveled enough to provide plenty of opportunity to pull off. That oak tree is a particular favorite of mine anyway, so I like to stop where I can include it in my pictures. I wish the roads had been passable enough for me to have photographed it in the snow this winter.

Pretty Pieces of a Gray Day

However gray the weather, somewhere, someplace in the day is a piece of beauty and a ray of sun. I found my piece on the way out to my shop to check the laundry this evening. In spite of the heavy cloud layer, there was a break just at the horizon as the sun was setting. The gold of the sunset was showing through the newly leafed trees. Trees that were totally bare the last time I snapped a sunset picture from my porch a few weeks ago. The new greens of Spring are so vibrant, fresh and crisp!

Standing on the porch I noticed the pink tulips blooming in my neighbor Edna's yard. They still had raindrops on them from this evening's rain shower. Another little piece of prettiness in this very gray day!

Spring is such a hopeful season and brings such promise after the long, cold winters. Seeing this makes me want to run out and put more plants in the ground. But, drat.....it's raining again!

Days Off & Tulips

I actually took two days off and did nothing but relax. Last Thursday Mike's niece, Jen and her sons Nick and Zach, met us at Mike's house in the early afternoon. Our "excuse" for this time was to have a photo safari. Jen does very beautiful photography and I'm always game for that. The day was perfect: warm, sunny and no wind. We trekked down to where Mike & Jeremy were working 1/2 block from the beach. Jeremy's dogs, Tater and Canoe, joined us on the beach and took over our game of catch. What a glorious day-the best of the year so far! After our beach time and pizza the guys set off a remarkable bonfire up on Capper Mountain. I'm not sure who took the most photos, but there were cameras and phones snapping pictures of this HUGE fire all evening. Jeremy threw a Mirror Pond beer bottle in to melt........and melt it did. Zach showed me a free-form beer bottle the next morning. He thought that was way cool. The photo is of Nick with his mom's camera. Certainly a budding pro if ever I saw one!

On Saturday, after we attended the "Easter Saturday" celebration in Silverton, we went to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn. What a beautiful sight we found! There are concessions, food booths, children's rides, a gift shop and even a cow-train to ride, but we chose to pass all that and park in the field area. It only rained on us a little and we walked all over the rows of tulips. All the varieties are labeled with their names. Of course, the one I wanted the most, a lavender specimen with white tips, isn't available this year! But I was able to purchase another one that is very, very similar as well as a fancy fringed red one called Starfire. If I had the money and the space I could have chosen at least 10 different ones that were just wonderful. If we had been 1 1/2 hours earlier we would have met up with Lynette and Karina (my co-workers), as they went also. Lynette bought the Starfire tulip too. What a great adventure. I strongly recommend it. I wish the sun had been out to lend more warmth, but we still enjoyed the tulips and the day.

I can hardly wait for our next adventure! It's so much fun to just do unplanned stuff. We've seen such great places without planning ahead. Not knowing what's next on a day off is great, especially when my work life tends to be so structured and time driven. I really should take more time off. Hmmmmm. I think I will!

Garden Volume II

I can barely believe that I am starting my second garden-year here in St. Helens. Last year I began from nothing and created something that lives on to grow again. Today was, thankfully, sunny and warm. I spent the entire day working in my back yard. I actually thought that I would just get the weeds pulled today and perhaps be ready to amend the soil and plant on another day. But the weeds came out faster than I thought, even though I filled my 5 gallon bucket three times with just Bindweed and Bindweed roots! I had poured 4 bags of mulched compost into the vegetable garden area and turned the soil before I realized that I could actually plant stuff today.

The sole break I took was to drive to Hi School Pharmacy's garden area, muddy jeans and all, to purchase lettuce, spinach, pansies, cosmos, cilantro and more compost. I planted the plants I purchased as well as 4 potato "eyes," 2 dozen garlic, 3 rows of red onions, and 10 strawberry starts. The strawberries went into the planter on my deck that already has 8 or 10 strawberries that survived from last year.

I have never grown potatos before and I have never been successful wtih spinach. This will be an experiment for me that I hope will yield edible goodies. I really enjoy eating veggies from my garden. I still need to plant tomatos, peas, cucumbers and tomatillos. And, if I can find space, some zuchinni. In past years I would have already planted my tomatos, but, perhaps I am becoming more of a Pacific Northwest gardener. I hesitated to purchase tomatos today, even though they were available, since I do not trust the weather just yet. I have time and I don't want to see them killed with a frost or have to wrap them in plastic bags as I did last year due to my zeal to get them in the ground.

I have a small, deck-sized greenhouse left over from my Orenco Station apartment life. I will use it to start some radishes, cucumbers and zuchinni seeds in biodegradable pots to be transferred to the soil when they sprout. I am coveting a larger greenhouse at Fred Meyers that sells for $99. I have a place on the south side of the stairs to my deck that seems to collect only mud and water and grow nothing. I think that would be a great spot for a wee greenhouse. I have enough bricks to make a floor after I put down several bags of bark. It would be fun to start plants there and I could anchor it to the deck and the fence so it could withstand the winds.

My list of wants far outweighs my list of needs. For this I am exceedingly grateful. I stood on my deck this evening watching my garden in the sinking sunlight and said thanks for my being in the beautiful state of Oregon, for my little house with its, thank goodness, little yard and for Mike and all my good friends that I have made here. This is really the very best part of my life!

Exploring at Home Again

Driving home from Scappoose this afternoon, the view of Scappoose Bay from Old Portland Road drew me in. I had my camera with me and pulled into the parking lot at Scappoose Bay Kayaking. At first I snapped some photos of the green pasture on the bay and the birds that so often accompany the grazing cattle. There is a sort of campgrounds and park-like area that adjoins the parking to the north. I made my way that direction, thinking I might get a better view of the water. A path lead towards the river and I followed it. Much to my surpirse I came upon a beautiful wood sign that said "Clackstar" with a carved scroll of words beaneath. The words explained that this is an interpretive trail commemorating the historical sight of a Clackstar Indian settlement. There is a somewhat extensive trail system through the copse of trees and along the bay. It seems a work in progress as there are posts that promise more signs and things that look like future markers on plants. There are benches along the trails, many facing the water. Though it was raining lightly, I spent the better part of an hour enjoying my trip along the trails. I disturbed the reverie of a large Blue Heron, who lazily flew about 30 feet further ahead and then simply watched me. I lost the attentions of the Heron when a small boat of fishermen returned to the bay to dock their boat. Making my way down to the water's edge, I watched some geese float along near the boathouses. I doubt they even noticed me.

The rain kept all but fishermen from this lovely and peaceful area today, but later in the Spring and into Summer, I have no doubt that many families will enjoy what is being created. There are so many, many places similar to this right where I live! What a wonderful place to be. I enjoy my little mini-explorations and can't wait to share some of these places with friends and family.

Blooming

My plum tree is growing and blooming! I bought my, at the time, little Green Gage Plum tree about a year ago at Home Depot for $19.00. It has far more than doubled in height since then and it is blooming very beautifully. I am thinking perhaps I should cut the tallest branches back a little bit so the tree will branch out more and not be such a giant. But maybe it's destined to be a giant anyway. I am hoping that the prolific blooms will fortell some fruit this year. I'm not sure if plum trees bear fruit this soon, but I hope so. Even one or two plums would be nice.

The first day of Spring was yesterday. Previous to then we'd had some very Spring-like weather. But yesterday morning brought 28 degree temperatures and a very cold, somewhat rainy day. Seems to me that was a sort of in-your-face thing. But today, at least until about 4pm, the day was fairly nice. I was able to run my 48 blocks in the sun during my lunch hour. The trees and flowers in NE Portland are so very beautiful in Spring. All the venerable old homes are very majestic and stately with their old and beautiful landscaping. I love to watch the season unfold as run. Tomorrow I will be escorting a possible new Doc around the facility. I'm invited to "lunch with the bunch" at the Rheinlander. If it's not raining, I will likely run again rather than try to pretend I enjoy the heavy German food available there. I sure hope it's not raining!

The sunset was awesome tonight. There were just enough clouds to create color and contrast in the sky. The temperature was mild - about 50 degrees - so I was comfortable watching the show for several minutes. Nature is a never ending source of pleasure to me. I often wish I had more time to simply enjoy the show and take more photos. Perhaps I should play the lottery more often. I've heard you need to enter in order to win.

A Little Visitor

I had a wee visitor at my house this afternoon. After Mike left, about noon, the sun came out and inspired me to pull the weeds out of my driveway. Four days ago those weeds were just a minor thought in the soil. With the few days of warmth they grew almost visibly. I brought my 5 gallon bucket and my forked weeder and began to pull them. As I worked the little white kitten that I've seen around the neighborhood plopped down among my daffodils and gave me a hopeful stare. I called to her; she bounded over, landing directly on the piece of grass I was wresting from the gravel in my drive. For the next hour she helped me pull each and every weed and piece of grass. She chased my tools, my hands and chewed on the ties of my sweatshirt. What a wonderfully affectionate kitty she is. When I finished and went into the house she sat on my doormat (Which says "Wipe your Paws") and looked hopefully into the living room. Cuddles came to the door; they sniffed and sniffed one another through the screen and seemed to come to some sort of detente. The white kitty laid down on the mat and Cuddles went back to the couch.

After the weeding project I drove to Home Depot to look at tile for my woodstove project. I was very disappointed as they had very few samples of tile and almost no colors but black & white. Yuk! I will need to make a foray into the tile showrooms of the Industrial section in Portland. But, that sounds like fun and a day off work!

Returning home with only detergent and bleach (alas, no tile), I found my pretty white feline friend asleep on my doormat. She meowed faintly, as if she were hungry, so I brought her a some dry kitty food. She ate and then seemed to disappear. But when, a few minutes later, I went out to my shop to do laundry, I found her on the hood of my truck where the motor vents near the windshield. She was curled up in the warmth of the recently driven engine and very soundly sleeping. I couldn't resist another photo with her reflected on my hood.

Along Highway 30

As I drive to work each day along Highway 30 towards Portland, I am rewarded with some beautiful sights. I shared with you, last Fall, some photos of very beautiful trees turning yellow and orange. Not far at all from those same trees are perhaps a dozen waterfalls this time of year. They vary from very thin streams pouring out from the basalt cliffs to the one I have included here. These particular falls are almost directly across from Rocky Point Marina just North of the weigh station. For all you Hood-to-Coasters, that is the exchange point for Leg 15. Except, that in the summer, it is barely a trickle, so we don't have the pleasure of enjoying this sight. Between this area and the little town of Linnton there are a constant supply of really picturesque falls on the landward side of the road. I enjoy them so very much on my way to work. I am trying to stop and take photos whenever I can of the sights I see every day. I hope I never take them for granted. Being from the arid area of Southern California I don't imagine I will. Some folks marvel that I would willingly make a 45 minute drive twice a day to commute from Saint Helens to NE Portland for work. These waterfalls and trees are many of the reasons I am willing to do that.

Sometimes, when I don't go to the coast on a weekend, I take myself on a tour of places near where I live. I have explored the town of Rainier 17 miles north of here. Rainier is a cool town that crawls up the hill and overlooks the Columbia River and all the mills on the Longview Washington side. I have found a great beach on the river just north of Goble. (Goble is a funky town 13 miles north of St. Helens and the Goble Tavern is a subject for another time) The beach is called Prescott Beach and has fire pits, swings for children, fishing areas, a park with restrooms, a Ranger Station and a killer view of the main shipping channel of the Columbia River. Seems like a great place to go in the summer when it's hot. Two weekends ago I explored Columbia City. Columbia City adjoins St. Helens to the north (that is downriver here, towards Astoria and the ocean). I really didn't expect much. From the highway it didn't look much different from my town, except smaller. Boy, was I surprised!!! The homes are certainly not ostentatious or especially large, except for one totally humongous one. But they are immaculate and every single one has an awesome view of the main channel of the Columbia River. I drove every street in the town. There was actually one street that was obviously rentals and a little run down, but there wasn't a single For Sale sign in the entire town. They have their own schools and a beautiful park/museum area. What a pleasant surprise and a delightful area to explore.

I hope to continue to share my explorations and photos of this area with you. I beleive I am getting better about stopping to take pictures rather than focuing on "being ontime" everywhere. That is certainly my goal. Time is relative and I want to make "time" to do things that have meaning for me and enhance my life rather than just create stress. I hope you all do the same.

A Little, Tiny Bit of Spring

There were finally little pieces of Spring to see today. There is a wee Crocus that has come up in my lawn. It is totally not in the "right" place, but it is so right that I will not move it. What a pretty little harbinger of the season to come! My daffodils, planted in November 2005 just after I bought my house, are in bloom again. They look so cheerful against the bleakness of the bare soil and leafless roses.

I started some tulips early in my bedroom window. They are beginning to bloom now so I've moved them to my living room. The sun shone today and highlighted them against the red couch. Cuddles found the perfect spot to sleep, finally, in the sun. It's funny how cats can always find the one little spot of sunshine in the house to curl up and sleep in.

From about noon on it stopped raining today and the sun managed to burn through the cloud layer. I took the opportunity to plant some bulbs in the pots on my porch. Later, when it's warmer, I will plant Geraniums in these pots. But, for now, they will have red tulips coming up to provide some color. I also put Sweet Pea seeds all along the planter in front of my porch. I hope they climb up the lattice this summer with those wonderful fragrant blossoms. I realize they should be "mudded in" in February, but I only missed by 3 days and today is a full moon! I can't keep track of all the requirements for planting but I usually have good luck with my garden anyway.

I weeded in my back yard today and the rose garden. The roses seems to have survived the snow and freezing temperatures. Little buds are forming on the branches and I don't seem to have lost a single rose, even the fragile miniatures that I planted between the larger roses. Many plants seem to be returning from last year. It will be interesting to see which ones come back and which I need to replant. My plum tree has thousands of little buds on the limbs. I wonder if it will soon be in flower. That will be exciting. It has certainly more than doubled in size since I planted it.

I could hear birds twittering and calling today. That sound is so welcome after the silence of the winter. Each season has it's time here and I do so enjoy that. I even find myself perusing the flower and seed catalogues that come in the mail and conjecturing as to which new plants I will try this year. What fun!

How Big is the River

These photos are of ships in the Columbia River main shipping channel at Astoria. My eldest daughter, Cathy, lives in Texas with her husband Tim. He's also my son-in-law, as I remind him whenever I call. But, that's off the subject. I have often tried to explain to Cathy and Tim how amazingly wide the Columbia River really is. I first saw this spectacle when I was about 10 or 11 when my folks had taken a vacation to Idaho. Since my mother was a teacher, and she LOVED US History, she always tried to make our vacations into an educational experience. I am very grateful now, but at the time I usually agreed with my dad when he said "Uh oh, here comes another hysterical (historical) marker." Of course, the Lewis & Clark expidition was an all time favorite of Mom's and we followed (more or less) the trail as much as we could that one summer. I have to admit that two things stand out in my mind. The first was the road along the gorge with the holes in the tunnel (this was 1954-1955) and the wonderful view of the river along the way. As we approached Astoria, my mother told me how really BIG the river was, but I had no idea what she meant until I saw it! To really impress this on my mind we rode the old ferry, which is now long gone and replaced by the Megler Bridge, across to the Washington State side and then rode it back again. Mike also rode that same ferry about the same time with his parents. We share that memory and, just this weekend, were trying to remember where that ferry was lodged.

This past Sunday was a very lazy day. The weather just plain sucked to start with and then I wasn't feeling good and didn't take my usual run. Instead, after breakfast, I fell asleep on the couch (fire in the woodstove) and slept until 1:00pm. By that time we needed to escape the house for a while and Mike suggested the Astoria Maritime Museum. What a cool idea! We toured the now-retired Columbia Light Boat. This is a small ship that used to act as a floating beacon for the ships coming across the bar into the river. That is where I snapped these photos of the river. There were 1/2 dozen or so ships anchored in the channel. I thought it was a good prespective to show the magnitude of the river and rather a nice sight also. I love watching the river on my way to work and wondering what cargo they are bringing or taking back. Some I know from the shape of the ship, but others are a mystery. After the tour of the Columbia we spent alomst 2 hours in the Museum looking at all the wonderful displays. It was well worth our time and very interesting to see. We tried to buy an historical map of the hundreds of shipwrecks in the seas around the bar and up the mouth of the Columbia but were unable to find it in the Museum store. That will be another adventure for another stormy weekend.

Happy Valentines Day! Once again, Mike has totally outdone himself in the wonderful bouquet of roses for this day. I just love being spoiled like this. I cannot imagine this bouquet.....then stems on these roses are so long and the roses so very perfect.......what an incredible treat this is!!! I am soooo spoiled and I sooooo love it!! Photo manipulation aside, I really cannot see over this when I am seated at my desk. My staff asked me to leave it overnight so they could also enjoy it again tomorrow. Of course, I complied since I get to enjoy all day again as well. I will try really hard not to gloat.....at least not too much. Ha Ha.

I find I will be able to have a wood stove installed with my tax refund. I can barely believe that I am really able to do this. This year is the first tax year (2006) that I have owned my home for the entire 12 months and I didn't really have any idea what the benefits would be. It turns out that my refund will pretty much cover the total cost. I found a wood stove that is probably about the smallest one made that will accommodate a "real" log (18") and not drive me out of the house. It is a Lopi 1250 stove, manufactured in Washington state, that will heat 600-1200 sq ft and has a cook top as well. It has a glass door so one can see the fire and only needs 11 1/4" clearance from the back wall. Of course, it requires a fireproof floor underneath and I plan to create that myself. I like what Mike did with ceramic tile under his wood stove and would like to do something similar. I am looking to do a Navajo Rug design pattern with brick red, black, gray & white. Mike wisely suggested that I make it flush with the oak hardwood floor and repeat the pattern up the wall, perhaps 30". I like that idea and have procured graph paper, colored pens and am trying out patterns to try. Tonight I bought a bunch of construction paper and will make 4" squares in my chosen colors to further try the patterns. I have always wanted to try laying tile and this seems to be an intriguing project to begin.

I will take photos as I go along with my wood stove and tile project to keep you posted. Hopefully, I can have a wood stove warming that everyone can attend. I don't know what you do for a wood stove warming, but I guess we could improvise. Could be fun anyway!!

This evening, as I exited my truck, as I heard the frogs croaking, but I also heard another sound. It was geese!!! At first I thought, "Oh, it's only our resident river geese that never leave," but then, it continued. As I stood on my porch for about 6-7 minutes, I heard many, many geese talking as they flew over. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see "V" after "V" of geese flying over and hear their constant chatter of encouragement to one another. I guess Spring really is coming again. This will be the second Spring here in St. Helens that I have witnessed the geese returning. What a wondrous phenomena this is that repeats year after year and how very privileged I feel each time I witness it.

Seen Any Beavers Lately?

And I'm not talking about the kind that attend a local college and play sports. I mean the kind that felled the tree above. This is at Trojan Park on Highway 30 just NW of Goble. This tree is lying on the shore of one of the ponds at Trojan Park. It is not blocking a waterway, or even in the water at all. Whatever that industrious beaver was thinking or hoping didn't happen! But then maybe he was just bored or obeying some genetic instinct to gnaw. But what a lovely example of a beaver-felled tree.

I have passed by this picturesque area several times recently and viewed the reflective scenes pictured here. Each time, although I've had my camera with me, there have been a line of fast moving vehicles behind me and I was unable to safely stop to take a photo. This time Mike & I were enroute to John and Bonnie's for a Superbowl party. Since we can't just fly across the river to their home, which we can see from the St. Helens Marina, we must drive to Ranier, cross the Lewis & Clark bridge at Longview and travel back down Interstate 5 to Ridgefield, where we can look across the river and see St. Helens Marina. There were no cars close behind when we passed that day, so I stopped to snap my long desired pictures. Mike was the one who spotted the beaver tree. We had a little laugh, I snapped the photo and we went on our way.

We still miss seeing the "Trojan Tower" that was so sadly destroyed last Spring. It seems so silly to have destroyed a water cooling tower that posed no danger what-so-ever and to leave the radioactive waste products behind. Perhaps "they" thought that, if the tower wasn't visable, the radioactivity was be forgotten. Why do "they" think everyone is so stupid??!! OK, so I am, once again, on a soapbox. I seem to have many soapboxes lately. Healthcare being not the least of them. Just ask me, I can go on for hours! Or, perhaps you don't want to ask. I'll understand, sort of.

Moonset

I wouldn't ordinarily post someone else's photo on my BLOG, but this one is so special I cannot resist. Besides, its Mike's photo and he is every bit as good as I am (maybe better) in recognizing a beautiful scene.
One morning as Mike was taking his trash down towards Shepard's driveway, he saw a magenta object through the trees. Upon investigation, he realized that it was a spectacular moonset. He stood, transfixed, as a beautiful moon sank with many colors into the early morning ocean. Of course, he had no camera but the one of his mind's eye. Few of us expect a "Kodak moment" when we are taking out the trash. However, he was up early the following morning to, hopefully, witness the same scene. It was not nearly as colorful as the previous day, but still a beautiful thing to watch. The picture here is what he saw. We have taken several very lovely sunsets at this same location, but this moonset is one I have never had the pleasure of watching.

Tomorrow is Ground Hog Day!

These are NOT groundhogs, obviously! I cannot begin to imagine how to secure an original photo of a groundhog, but I felt a need to mark the day.

There are birds in evidence of the impending Spring season. Nature is beginning to awake and the seeds of a new season, and another year, are being sown. Birds have begun to sing and gather. Bulbs have poked their tentative green shoots up into the frozen soil. Buds of new growth on the trees are in evidence on limbs and the sun has renewed the hope of all who bask in it's thin winter warmth. It is the promise of life continuing into the future; the promise of flowers in the Spring and fruit in the Summer. As someone very famous once said, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?

Those of us who live in these lands of seasons are encouraged each year by the evidence of nature and enjoy each bit of progress. It may seem trite to those of you who live in the homogenous land of perpetual sun and warmth, but we actually enjoy remarking to one another about the weather. It is always the one thing all of us have in common. And having something in common with those around you is not a thing to be taken for granted.

Groundhog Day is a mark in the progress towards Spring. My staff has decided to have a Ground Hog's Day party. None of us know quite how to celebrate, but celebrate we will, and I'm sure it will involve food and lots of fun.