September 13, 2008  

     In the last four weeks we've had about six days of intense blue skies—a sign of low humidity.
     I spent the night of August 14 sleeping on the floor at JFK airport.  A thunderstorm caused my flight to be cancelled, and the next available flight to Pittsburgh was 24 hours later.  I think I'll drive to Association from now on.
     Lynn and I spent the third week in August at Camp Newfound-Owatonna on Long Lake in Maine.  It's two camps for Christian Scientists—one for boys and one for girls, but at the end of the season they open the camps to families.  Don and Alice Alusic have been going to the family camps for years, and this year we went too.  We relaxed with books and quilting, hiked, swam, kayaked, met new friends, and sang.  The counselors were great—minding and teaching the kids, and entertaining us all.  We're already signed up to go next year.  Here's a page of pictures from the week.
     Almost as soon as we got back from camp, we headed for Cleveland to visit my Aunt Lucile, who lives there, and my brother Tom, who flew up from Florida.  Lucile has been living in an apartment with her dog Gismo for about seven year now.  Every couple days a women comes in to clean and see if Lucile needs anything—shopping, maintenance needs, Gismo's trips to the vet, etc.  We spent two days with Lucile and Tom—going out for meals, visiting Lake Erie (lower right), and going to the library.  It was a wonderful chance to talk and catch up on what they both have been doing.  Lucile is active and up-beat—a joy to be with.
     When we returned home to New Hampshire, we discovered our electric hot-water heater had failed.  I had been wanting to replace it with a more cost-effective tankless heater that uses propane, so this was the time.  I mounted it on the wall in the basement and installed a 13-foot vent pipe outside.  Now, when we turn on a hot-water faucet, the gas comes on, ignites, and heats the water on demand.
     As I write this, three bats are flying through the beam of our outdoor spotlight, catching the flying insects that congregate there.  A bat zooms past about every three seconds.  After a half-hour now, there are hardly any insects around the spotlight.

Feature: Optical Illusions

Quote: "If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?" — Albert Einstein

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