Today was really a play day.

Chelsea and I went for a nice long walk this morning. It was quiet. We did not see one other soul walking. That is rather unusual. It was cool but not cold, perfect weather for walking and things were dry enough that her little body did not get too wet.

Then I left at about 9AM to pick up Kate Herman for our Writers Workshop Presentation by Michael Perry at the James Tellen Woodland Sculpture Garden in Black River. I told you about the Sculpture Garden before. That is where we went for part of the class with Ellen Kort last spring. This was an event cosponsored with Mead Library and was quite well attended. Michael Perry is an accomplished freelance author. He wrote Population 485 about his experiences as a paramedic/firefighter in New Auburn WI on the volunteer fire department. If you have not read it, I have the book and would be glad to lend it to you. I heard him speak twice before and always pick up SOMETHING from his talk. Today I learned that he is a "compulsive" rewriter. He said that if his editors and/or agents wouldn't at some point say "alright already" he probably wouldn't finish anything. He told us a wonderful quote (I don't know from whom) "A poem is never finished. It is abandoned in despair." How heart wrenching is that. There was a reception at Mead tonight also, but I am pretty tired and had to help Dick with his legs and all. His voice did not sound strong today either so I felt much better staying home with him.

On the way to the event, we stopped at my cousin Brian Ayers to pick up my wedding rings. My knuckles seem to be growing as I age and I could hardly get them off lately, so he enlarged them for me. They always look SO nice when he is done cleaning and checking them anyway. Just like new.

SO, Kate and I stopped and had lunch at the Family Restaurant on South Business Drive. We had a delicious Portabello and Veggie sandwich on Foccocia bread. Wow, was that ever good.

Then I took a nap for a bit. The rest of the afternoon, I just cut out the rest of the denim squares I need for a quilt AND made Zuppa Tuscana for supper.

Today, on the news headlines was the story of a cat who stowed away in a moving van and ended up across country. It was found and shipped back to Green Bay. It reminded me of an incident years ago when I had a beautiful black cat named Samantha (Sam for short) She was jet black and had the most emerald of green eyes that I have ever seen. One day, I headed to the store with the truck and camper to pick up some groceries. When I opened up the door to the camper at the store, Sam erupted from the camper and took off like a shot. I could not catch her. We were only about 10 blocks from home, so all I could do was hope she would find her way home. As a matter of fact, as close as we were, I just assumed she would probably even beat me home.

However, she did not beat me home and for almost two weeks she was gone. My neighbor, John Talmadge, who lived across the street was terribly upset with me and I and my ex husband were devastated. She was a nice cat. Then one day I heard a faint "mew" at the kitchen door. Out of habit, I opened it and there she was. She walked in and I was so glad to see her. She was so thing and then she turned her left side towards me. To my shock there was a slash down her entire side , the full length of her body and almost an inch in width. It was actually a big scar. I called the vet and rushed her over for a checkup. At first he must have thought that I had done something to her but when he heard what had happened, we came to the conclusion that she had gotten hurt, perhaps by a fan in a car, and then crawled off to die, but instead healed enough to make her way home. He gave me a salve to put on her scar and it healed up with no sign of it after a time. She was a wonderful cat.

Have a nice Sunday. I will be working at Rhine.

Mary