Libraries and Bookstores!

Most Interesting Libraries of the World

http://www.miragebookmark.ch/most-interesting-libraries.htm

The reading room of the Suzzallo library of the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, was built in 1926 and has a Gothic interieur. Photography by Cap'n Surly Flickr.com

Most Interesting Bookstores of the World

http://www.miragebookmark.ch/most-interesting-bookstores.htm

The Lello bookstore in Porto, Portugal, is open since 1906 and is surely one of the most beautiful bookstores of the world. Photography by delviking Flickr.com

Will It Ever End?

We are tired of doing yard work, but we sure feel a sense of accomplishment with each task done. Today we cleared and mulched the ground around the trees below our bedroom bay window. Here are some pictures.

Has Anyone Seen My Friends, Deb and Dan?

Here are two of the best people in the state of New York.

If they had only told me that they were joining the Witness Protection Program I would have advised them on a different look. Actually there are three people shown here, aren't there? The man with his arm around Deb? I have no idea who he is...maybe he's part of the FBI assigned to relocate McDannyboy and O'Deb Shamrock to their new potato patch.

I first talked to Deb probably 20 years ago when Fran and I ran a home-based craft business and Deb called to order some of our personalized prints. She became a good customer, ordering often, and in the process we became good friends. We used to say that we were best friends who wouldn't recognize each other if we passed on the street. We remedied that about eight years later when two friends and I traveled to Block Island and made a side trip to meet Deb and Dan. Maybe I'll write about that some day...it involves Johnette, Evelyn, nun outfits, guns and seagulls.

Subsequently, Fran and I visited them on a trip East a few years ago. They served us a delicious meal and Fran and I gave Dan some helpful hints in straightening up the rock edgings in their yard. Hahaha! Then a few years later Deb came to Eureka for a 36 hour visit, during which time we visited the Downtown Post Office. She was in postal heaven. Listening to two postal workers talk shop is like being in a foreign country with no knowledge of the language.

So...Deb and Dan both work at a post office in New York state and up until a year or so ago, they worked the evening shift, side by side at a sorting machine. I don't know about you, but if Fran and I had had to work together like that, one of us (...not saying which one) would have already been pushed through the sorting machine, bundled, stamped and delivered to a location far, far away. Just having an honest moment here...

Anyway, it's a testament to their relationship that they survived years and years of togetherness at work and home. And it's evident that these two liven up the post office.

Road Trip

Fran and I took a little road trip to Indiana a couple days ago. It was nice to get away. I have an old Reader's Digest book of best scenic drives, and the one suggested for Indiana was Highway 135, from Corydon to Nashville. This is south of Indianapolis, southeast of Bloomington. Nashville is a quaint town populated by artists and artisans. There are many craft and antique shops in the heart of the town, maybe eight blocks in either direction. Many years ago I visited Nashville with a busload of college students who had come to Indiana for Spring Break revival meetings at various churches across the state. Since then, I had always wanted to return. We roamed in and out of the shops, met a nice man at a bookstore there who is a retired Lutheran pastor who spent several years in St. Louis at Concordia Seminary, and ate at a little coffee shop/deli called "The Daily Grind."


But the best place by far on the drive was Story, a little ghost town just south of Nashville (http://storyinn.com/). Their byline is "One Inconvenient Location Since 1851." The town of Story is comprised of: a general store with a restaurant on the main floor and maybe four or five bedrooms above, several rental cabins, the Old Mill (lodging on the upper level), and an old barn in the back. The proprietor told us that they are usually booked up on the weekends from late March until winter and it's a very popular spot for wedding events.

Old gas pumps - of course, we're too young to remember these! :-)

Word has it that at least one ghost, referred to as "The Blue Lady", is in residence above the restaurant. (http://storyinn.com/page/is_story_haunted) They say the ghost is friendly and harmless, but just the possibility of a ghost is enough for me to never ever want to stay there. No thanks. Creepy. Fran and I roamed upstairs and on the way up met a very nice cat, but that's all. We weren't particularly hungry, but sat down in the restaurant to enjoy a cup of coffee. When we saw the menu, we decided to each get a homemade biscuit with gravy. Very enjoyable, and the red raspberry preserves were fantastic (of course, we HAD to buy a jar).

Seth Matthew

Look at that face...

Dave and Leanna have returned from China with their new son, Seth.

Bootsie and Murphy and What You Don't Know about Your Friends

Bootsie was our first dog. She was a Boston Bull and she moved with us from the house pictured here (in Overland, MO) to our house in Florissant. We had a fenced in back yard, but a big dog jumped the fence and, well, you know what happened. Bootsie was five or six years old by then, had never had puppies, and the vet said that delivering the pups would be a big risk to her. We all decided that we wanted Bootsie to be safe. So the vet aborted the puppies. The sad thing was that Bootsie died on the operating table. We were so upset. I remember mom telling us when we came home from school that day. I walked down to the end of the street and sat on the curb, crying for a long time. Funny, as I'm telling the story, it's the first time I've wondered why I left the house to go cry on the curb.

I was relating this story to my good college friend and comedy partner, Kris, and she disclosed that she, too, had a Boston Bull Terrier when she was a child. We have known each other now for close to 40 years, have laughed and cried together, been roommates for a time, even did some amateur detective work to bring to justice the man who slammed his car into the side of my car and fled. Once we took a trip to Riverside, California to visit Kris's mom and dad. I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time and nearly drown in it as Kris stood on the shore laughing at me. We have both always been dog lovers and when we graduated from college, we shared a little apartment in Abilene, TX with her beautiful Irish Setter, Shawn. And yet, we were amazed to find out that we did not know that we both had Boston Bulls as our first family pet. Here's a picture of Kris with her dog, Murphy. Cute, huh? I'm thinking it's Eastertime and Kris is going to have to fight Murphy off from her basket with that big lollipop in her hand.

Yard Work - Day Three

Today we cleaned up and mulched the rock ledge area directly across the driveway from our front door. It looks great. We plan to extend the mulched area back about six more feet, but that will have to wait until we recover from today's work. Fran says we are too old for this!

Welcome, Seth!

My niece, Leanna, and her husband, Dave,

are now the proud parents of Seth Matthew Johnson.

Congratulations!

Their blog is http://djohnson-family.blogspot.com/

Anyone Want a Dog? - Part 2

So then, a few days later (read Anyone Want a Dog - Part 1) my brother drove in for a very short visit, less than 24 hours. He had driven from his home in Orlando, Florida to drop off his wife, Carol at my niece's home in Nashville, to babysit my niece's children while she and her husband travelled to China to adopt their new son, Seth.

As you can see, his phone charger won't be working any time soon. Good dog.

Darryl's phone charger...ooops...

Darryl strangling Smudge

Anyone Want a Dog? - Part 1

So this is what my dog, Smudge, did to my glasses. For some reason, Smudge is fascinated with the top of my nightstand, so I am careful to take anything of value off when I first get up the morning. She particularly likes my earphones and glasses and little alarm clock. I had just the day before commented to myself that I was doing a mighty fine job keeping one step ahead of her. Well, you know what they say: pride cometh before a fall. I think the glasses are beyond repair.

Yard Work - Day Two

Sweet Spire (Itea) Bye Bye

House minus Sweet Spire (was in front of window on left)

This is Spring Break week. I always complain that our Spring Break comes at a time when the weather is lousy...either too cold, or too rainy, or too cold and rainy. Then I use that as an excuse for not getting started on yard work. So, now, here we are, and the weather has been ideal! Not too cold, not too hot, very little wind and clear skies.

So now what shall I complain about? Well, my back hurts and my sides ache! Yesterday Fran and I pulled up several plants (itea) that had decided that they wanted the whole garden to themselves. Talk about invasive plants. After we (Fran) pulled up the plants, we spent the next hour pulling up the runners from the plants. It was unbelievable how many runners there were, and I'm sure we've missed many more that are still underground, just waiting to rear their ugly heads.

We raked out leaves, transplanted a few day lily clumps and then mulched half of the garden. Today, after church we continued with the rest of the area and still have two or three days of work remaining. It sure feels good to get that going, and although my back and sides do hurt, I am mostly thankful for the beautiful weather God has provided these last few days!

Good News!

My lovely niece, Leanna, and her wonderful husband, Dave, are on their way this week to China to receive and bring back their new son, Seth! Couldn't be happier for them. And the added benefit for the St. Louis relatives is that after my brother, Darryl, drops off my sister-in-law at Dave and Leanna's home (babysitting Seth's soon-to-be brother and sisters) he will drive on up to St. Louis to spend a day with us! Safe travels, everyone!

Dave and Leanna will be blogging their experiences to China and back on their new blog:
http://djohnson-family.blogspot.com/