Belated Happy July 4th!

(Photo of the "Living Flag" taken at Ellis Island, New York, May, 2009. This is the neatest thing! Depending upon your angle, you either get a straight shot of the flag of the USA, or something like this photograph, that shows that the flip sides of each part of the flag is made up of individual images of people who have come through Ellis Island. This is a motion shot that I think Mr. Don took showing a couple of people crossing the image, because during the busy part of the day when we were there it is nearly impossible to get a clear shot of this great flag art work.) Hola Darlings!

Yesterday dawned warm, humid, and overcast. I had plans to spend some time with family later in the day. The first part of the day was spent sweating and puffing as I cut the front lawn, then laid down a layer of bug-killer pellets because those damn sod web-worms are back yet again this year, despite my best efforts! Argggghhhh! Then I trekked to the supermarket!

Later I spent time attempting the ever-hopeless task of updating Chess Femme News at Goddesschess. I will do more on that later today. And, of course, I had my chess games going on. I left no time to post here.

I am not doing very well in either of them, alas. However, Mr. Don has promised that as soon as he is out from under the revamping of the Goddesschess website he will give me a couple of practice games. He is as rusty as I am, so we will be an "even" match - I hope! I need something to boost up my confidence a bit. For some mysterious reason, I have usually been able to defeat him with the black pieces...

Later, I visited my sister Debbie and her husband Randy's home where we had a small gathering of some of the family and a neighbor joined, too, because her husband was working and her kids are all grown up and moved away. Here is a photo of my 82-year old mother and my graduate-student nephew, Adam Varble, decked out in 4th of July regalia. Don't let Grandma Newton's water glass fool you - it was filled with some of my White Zinfandel wine!

I took along the netbook and showed some of the photos from our May New York vacation -- they were a great success, and some of the truly horrid photos that Mr. Don took of me elicited much laughter, boo! I drank too much, and ate way too much of all the stuff that is so bad for one - grilled bratwurst, baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw (a/k/a cold slaw), and cream-cheese topped blueberry bars for dessert, EEK! But Goddess, it all tasted so GOOD! Then we all played some crazy word game called "Banana" while the cheap wine I'd supplied freely flowed, and we had a marvelous time. When delivered home about 9:16 p.m. I collapsed into bed where I lay in the dark, windows opened wide to catch any hint of breeze in the warm, moist air, the bedsheet draped loosely about me. I drifted off to sleep as I listened to the booms of fireworks going off in all of the parks, close and distant, around me.

It was a wonderful 4th of July!