Wow, thanks for that one-in-a-million and once-in-a-lifetime start, Mariposai.   Amazing!!

I'm getting ready to go off to a breakfast with other men at my church.  It should be interesting with an intriguing speaker.   DW and I )mostly her of course) recently took over the "Seasonal Decor" ministry there and when I'm there I try to see what we should be doing for each season that might not be suggested in the synod's website for colors throughout the church year.   My wife is a genius with such things and I mostly lift things and put them down but I'd like to have more creative input some day.  The folks from whom we inherited the ministry are mostly no longer around (hence, giving it up) but have not left much in the way of instructions.   It's good that I'm involved as it helps to work a different part of my brain, I think.

Mostly, today will be cleaning up the joint, awaiting DW's return from her mom's.  We were lighthearted joking about how every time her mom hits her head, she comes back stronger and shows signs of her younger self.  Something about an adrenaline rush maybe.  Maybe the three stooges were actually on to something.  When she gets back this afternoon, we'll be aheading out to a gourmet pizza place we haven't ever been to for sit down and haven't been to for takeout in almost 30 years.   We're taking a friend of ours whose wife passed of cancer back in the late summer/fall.   She was one of DW's dearest friends.

Yesterday was a very difficult day for me.  The separation from my wife every week has grown old over these several years.  Of course I don't want anything to happen to her mother that would end the weekly trips for her, but it has been hard and is getting harder for me.  I don't think it's hard for her.  If it is, she doesn't let on.  We have three or four days together and three or four days apart every week.  Then at around dinner time, DD and Magdalena stopped by and Magdalena stayed with me for a little while, while her mommy ran to the store.  It was a wonderful unexpected bright spot in my day.  DD said that Maggie had been crying a lot and was dealing with her first diaper rash, but while she was with me she was all smiles and I got some laughs out of her and out of me.  Magical.

Love Steve's and Mariposai's pictures.  Agree about the grandkids being superior to the squirrel, but that's good that the squirrel will have a safe home!    The Japan trip sounds wonderful.

BTY- I know it's a lot and it's disruptive.  I'm sure it is hard on your wife, too, but she feels like she has no choice so she is just sucking it up and doing what she needs to do.  Stay strong and it isn't forever.

It was going to be raining this morning- mainly- so I didn't go to the 6:30 group start.  It stopped in time for me to go over to the route and start at 7:30 and I saw them all on their way back.  It was damp and gloomy- 52 degrees- but I did more than planned and got 9.2 miles.  If I had run with everyone I probably would have tried to do 10, but I didn't.  Went to Dunkin afterwards for a hot Macha Latte and an apple fritter the size of a softball.  We have our last Vandy basketball game today and it will be sad to say goodbye to some of our seniors.  It's not been a good season and I'm still fighting with people (always a good idea, right...) about the coach, who I support.

Looks like you had a wonderful time, Mariposai!  Thanks for the pics.

BTY--hope you find some resolution to the situation.

Steve--wonderful wildlife pics.

Jay--good news on the funding. All spending does trickle down to make a difference.

I have not heard the new beyoncé country album....Can't women just be talented without having to look like prostitutes?

I'm with you on the lack of clothes (Give me Billie Ellish fashions any day. ). Beyonce's not exactly my cup of tea but the woman can write an ear-worm (Texas Hold'em) and she'll prompt a whole younger generation of folks to reconsider country music--especially people of color who've been historically marginalized by the industry. That can only be healthy. It's not her first venture. Her "Daddy Lessons" from 2016 has a harmonica, whiskey, rifles, Bibles, the second amendment, and "Daddy"--what could be more country?  She's really just the most prominent of a whole wave of recent black artists reinvigorating country/Americana/Roots music (whatever you want to call it). Some are more traditional, some genre-bending (Rhiannon Giddons, Rissi Palmer, Adia Victoria and many others). But it definitely ruffles feathers in an industry often built on white nostalgia. My former colleague wrote an interesting piece a few years ago about how Jason Isbell's been one of the few folks who've actively worked to be a bridge between white mainstream country and these new artists. All kinds of creativity there. Enjoy.

As expected, my Caps off-loaded some contracts--though fewer than many expected--and collected some draft picks, likely to be cashed-in over the summer for some younger talent. Most notably, we unloaded Kuznetzov to North Carolina. He's a highly talented center who scored perhaps the most important goal in Caps history (an OT game winner to eliminate the Penguins the year the Caps won the cup. Unfortunately, he has a cocaine habit. 

I have time to talk country music and hockey because, once again, we're getting inundated with rain and I'm wimping out of my run. Our yard has become like a giant sponge; it squishes and sinks when you walk around. The grass is growing like crazy but I can't put my lawn tractor on that for a while; I'll sink.   I sure hope this pattern let's up soon.

Great pictures Mariposai. (I visited the Nagasaki Peace Museum when I visited Japan.)

6.11 miles in a steady rain this morning.

Now I am alternating working (programming), house cleaning, and watching the Sabres/Oilers game.

Texas Hold 'Em holds no danger of becoming an ear worm for me. Seems like the radio plays the song multiple times per hour but it hasn't grown on me yet.

Thanks Mariposai for the pictures and your perspective.  You have had an amazing trip.

l have spent most of the last few days riding the Amtrak ; NW Illinois through Chicago, NW Indiana, and finally into south central Michigan.  It is the most relaxing way to travel to my daughter’s house.  

Anneb just how much darn rain did you get?  I got drenched between Union Station and OTC.  And every little town westbound seemed to be swimming.

anyway, back at it today because that was a lot of sitting.  I’m going to warm up with some yoga and then see where it leads.

 My father was listening to Charlie Pride 50-60 years ago.

Yeah, mine did too. He was a real pioneer who put up with so many indignities. Early in his career, they wouldn't even put his picture on any promo material to radio stations because they knew his songs wouldn't get played in many places because he was Black. There's a nice mention of him in a Rolling Stone piece from a few years back.

I think Darius Rucker and Kane Brown were a little ahead of Beyonce.

I don't know much about Brown but I know Rucker faced much of the same racism Pride had a generation (or two) earlier, including being told to his face by country radio station managers that they wouldn't play his music because he was Black. He kept quiet about all the racism he's faced until coming out during the Black Lives Matter movement  saying "It's no longer alright for me to perpetuate the myth that things are okay" and hoping his speaking out could be a little push for change.

I'm not a big fan of either of these guys' music but you gotta respect their perseverance in the face of ignorance. Good stuff.

Holly - The lingering COVID carp seems to drag on and on. Hope it doesn't last too much longer.

Lots of good racing at the college indoor championships. What did I ever do before YouTube?

Back when I was a kid and my father listened to country music. I didn't like any of it: Conway Twitty, Glen Campbell, Charlie Pride, Buck Owens, etc. But now when I hear some of it, it wasn't that bad after all.