The journey of a thousand miles sometimes ends very, very badly.

I arrived in Seattle safely and a little early. Whatever logarithm they use to assign seats gave me 6a - right up in front with extra legroom and a window. Beautiful weather meant a view from 30,000 feet of the Grand Canyon to begin the trip and Mt. Rainier at the end. I figure on the return trip I'll have the seat by the bathroom door.

We have nice weather here through Wednesday morning so the priority is getting outdoor tasks done at the beginning of the week. Today I climbed up trees to prune them, turned 55-gallon drums into compost bins with drain/breathe holes, cleaned and spray painted a big flower pot, got the chipper/shredder running and got dad's remote keyless entry to work. Tomorrow I'll spread compost and roto-till garden beds and I don't know what else. But dad has a list somewhere so I'm not worried about job security. And after the rain starts Wednesday afternoon I come inside and do chores for mom. She, too, has a list.

That's why I'm here. We talk about all kinds of things as I work, so we catch up on news, but mostly I want to do things that, at their age, they can't do anymore. Dad is 87 and has no business doing most of what he tackles. Mom uses her cane to get from one side of the kitchen to the other, so straightening valances ain't gonna happen.

If you want to feel young, vibrant and strong hang out with really old people.

I heard Newt Gingrich interviewed over the weekend and learned he has just converted to Roman Catholicism. He used to be a Baptist, but after lengthy training in the rules and rituals of the Catholic Church he was baptisized and became a Catholic, the faith of his most recent wife.
The interviewer asked him how that could be since he (Gingrich) has been divorced twice prior to this marriage, something that violates the standards of the Catholic Church. He never really answered that question. Hmmmm.
I think that's called the Kennedy Exception.

I know this is a really short post and I apologize if you were looking for real substance (though you should know better by now). But I was up a little before 3 a.m. so I could get to Steve & Michelle's in time for him to drive me to the airport for a 6:15 flight. So even though it's only now 9 p.m. I'm totally whooped. Something about standing at the top of a ladder clinging to a cedar tree while cutting off branches over my head turns out to be tiring work.

I'll try to do better tomorrow night.