My baby's here

My darling baby daughter, AP3, is here visiting me.



This is the two of us in 1969. I don't recognize either of us.
That hair do was in style then. Honest. Believe it or not.

I'm baaaaaccccckkkkkk..Didcha miss me?

Neva has pointed out that I'm due to post since I'm back from my recent trip, so here I am boring you again. That Neva. Don't blame me.

Okay. First we went to Luray Caverns. Beautiful place.

This lake inside the caverns is so clear that it's like a mirror.

Here's a picture I took of husband Niks:



Here's a picture he took of me there:


That guy. Not the most talented cameraman.

On the road to somewhere, I spotted this coffee pot building and stopped in the middle of the road to take a picture of it. Just for you guys.



I am just plain ol' sweet is what I am. In the pix you can't really see the handle on the right hand side 'cause I am not the most talented camerawoman.

We spent three nights in Charlotte, NC, where I did not take any pictures. You guys are so lucky. There Niks was visiting the UNC-C library to read his father's papers that are in their archives.

We went to the college where Nik's dad was president. I took this picture of Niks with his dad's portrait which is in the Admin Bldg. Even though his father is about 37 in the portrait, and Niks is now almost 79, I think I see the resemblance.



I'll spare you more NC stuff and go on to Williamsburg, VA.


This babe was our tour guide for the Governor's Palace. She really did know her stuff. Good tour. Ain't she cute? We toured the Capitol Building there as well. I failed to get a picture of the handsome guy who gave that tour.

There were several fife and drum group parades. I truly did enjoy those.

These guys are just warmin' up.

At some point on the trip we were on the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I refuse to worry about the order of this stuff. My shit's old, so I don't hafta.

There's a guy down there drawing stuff. So I immortalized him on film. I am so swell. I amaze my own sweet self.

On the road again

We're leaving tomorrow, Sunday, May 13 for a little road trip to Charlotte NC.

We'll stop at Luray Caverns on the way down. We've been there before. I think it's the prettiest of all the caverns I've seen. It has the best colors, and lots of them. It also has The Great Stalacpipe Organ, supposedly the world's largest musical instrument. It's a keyboard instrument that works by tapping stalactites of varying sizes with rubber-tipped mallets attached to solenoids in order to produce tones. It really works just fine, but the humidity is a big problem for it.



We've been to Carlsbad Caverns, and it's the largest I've seen, and really the most interesting. The Big Room in the cavern is 8.2-acres.



We've done Mammoth Caves as well, which has the world's largest network of natural caves and underground passageways, but I didn't find it as interesting as Luray or Carlsbad. Maybe because it was at the end of a three month trip that started with seeing Luray.



Our main objective is the library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Husband Niks' father was a college president and the FIL's "papers" are on file in this library. I don't know why. The FIL was president of another college in N.C. and he got his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins U., so why are his papers in Charlotte? It's a mystery to me.

Seems to be because Niks' uncle Roy, who got his Ph.D. in psychology from Johns Hopkins University, donated his own papers to this school, and just threw in his brother's stuff as well. That Roy. Again, why???? I think he taught at this school. If I could drum up a little interest in this subject, I'd ask. But I don't have an hour or so for the complete answer, and I'd get that. At a minimum. (3D would know of course.)

So off we go. Excitement to the max, huh?

We'll be back on or around May 21. Something between here and there and back again could catch my eye, and I'm the one who's driving.

Rabbit Rabbit

Lime is interviewing little ol’ me! So here are her questions, and my stupid answers.


1. How did a Kentucky gal wind up in Pennsylvania?

I don’t know any Kentucky gals, but I’ll take a wild guess.
In Kentucky, it's illegal to paint your lawn red. Now, that’s restrictive. Just sayin’. I, my own self, was raised in Tennessee, where it is against the law to drive a car while sleeping. Those State Troopers. Bless their hearts. But I can’t put up with that.

Besides in Tennessee it is illegal to use Lassos to catch a fish. I guess they think a rusty hook is far more humane. So I just had to vacate the place. Any fool can see that. (I sees). Actually in Pennsylvania a person is not eligible to become governor if they have participated in a duel. So if I have to fight over the chocolate (question below) I may have to give up that life-long dream.


2. What is an appropriate punishment for someone who tries to steal your chocolate?

Death. But not death-by-chocolate. Twinkies at twenty paces oughta do it. If we are talking about my personal chocolate, it can’t be stolen. You gonna rip it right out of my stomach? Please. If I have chocolate, I eat it. I don’t take chances on it getting’ stolen.


3. We know your love of celebrating Groundhog's Day and you've taught us the importance of starting each month with Rabbit rabbit. What is this fixation on rodentia? Are there other furry critters you wish us to honor and if so, which ones?

Well, squirrels are mighty tasty. Really. And hedgehogs rarely projectile vomit on you the way a kid does. Chipmunks don't require expensive trendy outfits which will be outgrown within days and you can acquire rat toys for free from recycle bins and kitchen waste. You see where I’m goin’ with this? Rodents are cheap, even free, and they don't need bibs and they clean their faces themselves. You don't have to change poopy diapers on beavers and they can be toilet trained from as early as 5 weeks. Beat that.

4. Which book or piece of literature and which piece of music speak to your heart and soul the most deeply?

This is difficult. Many books have touched me. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCuller is one for sure. Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin changed my heart and my mind. Recently Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro touched me.

For music, ironically, since I’m a non-believer, Amazing Grace makes me cry.

5. You get to host your favorite morning radio program for the day. Who is your sidekick and tell us what sorts of hi-jinx you'll have?

I’m going to have Britney Spears so that I can seem smart by comparison. And of course, Betty Bowers, America’s Best Christian, A woman known throughout Christendom for her joie d'apres vivre . We’ll have a “Radio Question of the Day” and rather entertaining and irredeemably vapid people will call in and try to guess the answer. We’ll change the correct answer if it suits us, and when we’re bored with the callers, we’ll pretend someone got it right and give away Betty’s famous tee-shirts that say things like “Jan. 20, 2009, The end of an error,” or good books like, "Yes, Jimmy, Jesus Does Watch You Masturbate." That Jimmy.

Naturally Betty will explain important stuff like how Scientology has been providing gay actors with wives since 1978, and Britney will give clues on good drugs and what to shave and what not to shave. Like that.

I think I might have a contest called Guess Who’s In Hell? So be thinking of good answers. Don’t be obvious with guesses like Hilter and Anna Nicole Smith.

I imagine that the three of us will be invited back to host again. Don’t you?