Castle in the Clouds

Sometime ago I mentioned my good fortune in being able to rescue my Great-Grandparent's things. There were several boxes. Some are filled with pictures. Some contain deeds to property that has been parceled out and sold off, as well as property that has somehow managed to remain in the family despite hardships and uncertainties. One box, though, contained something even more precious. Letters. Stories. Postcards. Poems. Now, most of these loose items had already been gathered and packaged together in the past. Two spiral-bound books, Penciled Points and In the Words of Arthur E. Spencer , had been distributed among the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the very same Arthur E. Spencer. These spiral-bound books, their pages protected by a thin layer of clear plastic, are treasures. They are also very difficult to display. Their spines are too flexible, their pages too weak, to stand on their ends. Laying them down on an end table or a shelf only invit...

So you don't think I'm dead in a ditch, here's the latest and greatest: The boys are back at it again. Our mini-vacation from practices and games has come to an end. We're now running up to the fields behind the Jr. High almost every night of the week to pick them up from football practice. I have no idea what positions they will be playing. Even if I knew the names the of positions, I still wouldn't have a clue. I'm hoping to get into an independent study course where I'll be discussing literature with students from Kazakhtan. I guess space is limited for this online reading group, though, and I might not make the cut. We'll see! I actually managed to attend a Red Hot Writers critique group meeting on Sunday. Poor Myron was the only one to brave the critiquing waters. Next time, I will read, too. I just need to fix a couple things first. I'm avoiding the synopsis I need to write. I'm going to have to force myself to get this critical pi...

It only makes sense that our first full day in the city started out at the Field Museum. After all, it was because of Gage's wish to see dinosaurs that we had even considered Chicago as this year's vacation destination. You can hardly tell that it was raining. But let me assure you that this was the only picture taken on the way in because I was worried about raindrops hitting my camera. Here we are with Sue, the museum's world famous T-Rex. As you can see, there weren't a lot of people around when a friendly passerby offered to take a picture of the whole family. This is one of the advantages of being married to a man who can't sleep in. You start your days early. Very early. Of course, the museum is comprised of more than dinosaurs. There were stuffed creatures of every kind, an excellent exhibit on Ancient Egypt, and even a 3D movie on the life and times of Sue the T-Rex. We spent most of the morning and a bit of the early afternoon wandering around. Afte...

We're back! It was lovely and over much too soon. Not that I expected the vacation to feel long and drawn out. Quite the contrary. I knew we were going to be busy each and every day, which is the perfect recipe for an oxymoron of long days that pass quickly. We woke up early Monday morning and boarded the Amtrak. (Thanks, Dad, for driving our car home!) We packed heavy since the train allows you to bring your own food on board. The smallest suitcase? Full of snack food for the train and hotel. The cooler? Full of cold stuff we could eat and drink. Not that the kids wanted lunch on the train. They weren't hungry for sandwiches. However, by the time we got into Chicago, they were definitely interested in finding somewhere to eat. Since our room wasn't quite ready, we checked our bags and decided to go looking for our first meal in the big city. Maybe we should have stopped at the Melting Pot because the Hard Rock Cafe was insanely expensive. On the upside..the boy...