Let me just say one word: WATER, AGUA, L'EAU, WASSER, VAND, ACQUA, WODA, H2O

In the movie The Graduate, one of the party guests says to Dustin Hoffman that he just wants to say one word to him and that word is plastics. Well, my dad and I have a pet saying and that is "it's going to be all about the water." (After gasoline and food naturally.) We mean the distribution of water as the population grows, particularly in the drier climates in the western United States. We, of course, are referring to our "one word."

Then there's the whole topic of water pollution. In today's Tennessean newspaper, I read about Franklin citizens who are thinking of suing the Egyptian Lacquer Mfg. Co. for contamination of groundwater. Our own little Love Canal. I've lived here for 17 yrs. now and never heard of Egyptian Lacquer, a Franklin company who is evidently helping to pollute the Harpeth River. Cleaning up the Harpeth and other rivers in the area is something we do unfortunately hear about from time to time.

Meanwhile, in New York City, that city full of Yankees that redneck Southerners love to compare to evil incarnate, they have opened for business a $15.5 million public art project, "The Waterfalls", which Mayor Bloomberg expects to generate $55 million in economic activity. I know I sure would like to take a long weekend trip to the city and take one of the cruises past the 4 man-made "waters that fall". One is taller than the Statue of Liberty! For all the interesting information about this project, such as how the waterfalls work, visit http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/

"Water is very ephemeral," Mr. Eliasson said as his own falls made their debut. "It is full of dreams." Wish that Mayor Dean and the powers that be would dream that big about the Cumberland River and what the development of our riverfront could be for tourist dollars.

Friday night delight

Friday night as we went outside to say good-night to Keri and Grant who had come over to see Mojo, Bill remarked upon what a clear night it was. So I looked up into the sky and immediately saw a shooting star. I almost didn't believe my eyes. Then Grant saw one too. We watched for a minute or two more, but it was late and that was the end of the show. I made a wish . . . you guess.

The (Tire) Decider

Bill with his retirement gift from his friends at BFUSA. I gave him the grill cover. We graduated from the University of Virginia.

By the way, this is a picture of the guy who just retired. Gosh, it just occurred to me - we will have to buy tires from here on out.

Where are those hovercraft they promised us? And, can they run on oxygen or ozone or whatever else is in the air for free?

They had this picture on display at the party, and a couple of us were trying to come up with an adjective for his expression. What would you say? Please leave a comment.

They also had a picture of the 1973 college class that was hired in at Firestone; there were about 25 newbies. Bill has dark hair and a mustache of course. Bell bottoms were still in. :-)

Let Them Eat Cake

• It's hard to believe! Cliched, but true. After 35 years at Firestone, then Bridgestone/Firestone, Bill is retired. His department, Sales Engineering, had a delightful little party for him on Thursday on the 12th (top) floor of the Bridgestone building in Nashville. They gave him a propane grill as a present (they asked me for suggestions).

• The 2 pretty cakes pictured above were a carrot and a chocolate. There was also ice cream, a cheese plate, and fruit plates. The party ran from 1:30 to 3:30 during which time the reception line patter ran from people who said things like "you don't really know me because I just started here . . . " to lots of hugs from women. Then there are the guys who get wind of the retirements who are already retired and come back for the parties. They all say how much they love retirement.

• We hope to too. But, just in case the 2 of us were to get on each other's last nerve, I got the 3rd party, Mojo, for happy distraction. So far it's working.

It's a Boy!

Introducing the newest member of the family and it's the terrible two's already!

When we were at our monthly couples' bridge club Sat. night, I mentioned to a lady that we had a new puppy, and her response was "Are you crazy?" I don't think so. I guess it boils down to dog people would tell you "no" and non-dog people or semi-non-dog people might say "yes". But we had a lot of encouragement from our son and his wife who promise to babysit whenever we want to go out of town.

Grant came over on his lunch hour to see Mojo and let him jump all over his head. While he was here I said that Mojo was starting to chew on things he wasn't supposed to chew on, and Grant's answer was "lots of toys." They sent 4 with the wire cage they let us borrow that they no longer need, but puppy is only interested in 2 and that interest only lasts so long. Then it's on to cords and sofa and drapery corners. So, I guess a trip to Pet Smart is on the to-do list. Meanwhile I'll contemplate if I'm crazy or not. It'll be about a year's worth of contemplation; that's about how long the puppy terrible two's last as I recall.

Toyota ??? That's worse than a boy called Sue

• After Lucy died in Oct. 07, I said she was our last dog. Guess what?

• We are going to drive 65 miles to Lawrenceburg tomw. at the crack of dawn to see this male Pembroke Welsh Corgi with the strange name.

We will have to change the name. I'm assuming that when we see him we'll be goners.

• Grant and Keri are keen on us getting a dog so we can exchange lots of babysitting; that kind of sealed the deal for Bill.

We're not just all about the country music - Here are real Nashville llamas

• Llamas originated in North America about 40 million years ago, then were wiped out by the last Ice Age. Thanks to importation from South America, there are now over 100,000 in the U.S. and Canada.

• Llamas spit at each other when they fight, not to mention neck wrestling and chest butting. That, my friends, would be the guys trying to become alpha male.

• Llamas hum to their newborns.

• Guard llamas protect livestock from intruders such as coyotes. They actually herd the livestock and might even kick Groundhog Gary or Muskrat Sally to death. Hey, survival of the fittest, folks.

More pictures of the llamas NOT dancing at High Note Farm

Grant and Keri on the left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erin and Dave on the right

But the animals didn't get to dance . . . that I know of anyway

• Bill and I were lucky enough to attend the wedding of friends of Grant, Keri, Dave, and Erin. Actually it was the reception, the wedding having taken place on the beach in Key West in May. Grant and Keri had been part of that wedding party and had turned it into a week's vacation spending another night in Miami's South Beach and then a 4-day cruise in the Carribbean., They said they had a good time, but I don't believe that!

• The reception took place last Sat., June 14, at High Note Farm off Hillsboro Road in Nashville. Everyone I talked to remarked how surprised they were to find out that this place existed. I have no idea how many llamas or horses they have, but I scurried to take pictures before it got any darker. I felt very sorry for the horses, who came over when they spotted us, because there were so many flies all over them that I think they must have been miserable.

• But their misery was certainly delightfully overshadowed by our good time. The food (and drink) was wonderful; we met some nice people (a couple from Akron); and the 9-piece band rocked! We stayed till the bitter end mainly because we enjoy all of the boys' friends (i.e. the young people) and because I had one of the best low-pain days in a long while even though it was humid (which I thought increased the pain). So, my next theory is that I had taken a lot of prednisone for a bunch of bug bites I had. That would definitely cut down on the swelling in my head which I can feel when things are bad.

Anyway, as I've said before, I love weddings. What a celebration for the road ahead! A shout out and our best wishes for many happy years to the Sheppard's.

We'll Miss Him Acutely

I didn't hear about Tim Russert's passing until Bill mentioned it last night around 6 p.m. My response was: "Tim Russert? I can't live without Tim Russert!" Unfortunately I had just started watching his TV show Meet the Press (the longest running TV show so far) because I had just gotten interested in politics again after the dreadful years of the Reagans, the Bushes, and the Clintons (I never trusted Bill's zipper from Arkansas days and it turned out that he did embarrass the Democratic Party, in my humble opinion). But, I was very familiar with Tim because he was also on TV, hosting presidential debates, and doing political analysis. It didn't take long to figure out that this fellow boomer (2 yrs. younger than me) was the best. Here is the email I sent my sons last night:

Dear Sons, You have probably heard that Tim Russert, Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News, died suddenly today of a massive coronary at age 58. He was a fellow boomer who I like best of all the folks on TV – I guess because he loved politics and so do I. He was from Buffalo and loved his dad, a sanitation worker, and had recently written a book called “Big Russ and Me” – his dad is still alive. He only had one son who had just graduated from college and he and the wife and son had just gotten back celebrating that fact from a trip to Rome the night before and this happened the next a.m. I’m sure Tim was a Type A personality and blah blah blah . . . However, he was known for being tough but very well-liked. He never let his political opinions influence his work. He had been the anchor for Meet the Press on Sun. a.m. since 1991 I believe. And he hosted some of the presidential debates. Anyway, to get to the main point, he was a bright man, brighter than me I’m sure, and they said he gave his son 3 rules to live by when he went off to college and they were: 1. Work hard 2. Laugh often 3. Honor yourself (I’ll add and family to that but it could be argued that it’s implied) They also said that because he came from such humble roots, he used to say the world didn’t owe you a living and that whatever job you did (even garbage collector I guess – because he got his values from his dad), it was worth doing well. You were not entitled to anything. I think that reminds me of being the exact opposite of Bush and part of that is just the inherent pitfalls growing up as a rich kid as opposed to a poor kid who gets inspired by something or someone or maybe just his own dang good genes. But he did look like he might have had a few Philly cheesesteaks too many (his Achilles’ heel) and a piece of that nasty cholesterol broke off and got him. Anyway, when your dad told me who died today, my response was “Tim Russert??? I can’t live without Tim Russert.” For me, Tim has definitely left the building – empty. Love, Mom

It IS Friday the 13th after all

Just doing my part to help the cause . . . do you think he will lose because I pasted his picture on this day?

* * * * *

(I chose a respectful photo at any rate)

This deer doesn't chuck wood, he chucks my flowers!

Do you see the stems in these 2 pictures that have been nipped off? I'm accustomed to the daylilies being chewed up before they ever get a chance to bloom; but this year, they had hung in there for the longest amount of time without being eaten and I had great hopes for them. Evidently, I was mistaken in thinking that the deer might have gone to a different neighborhood. And, the geraniums! I always plant them because they were the only annual that the deer had always left alone. Shoot! And these deer are connoisseurs as well; they only eat the delicate tender buds, not the blossoms. I swear; I'm surprised you don't see them going for the little budlet babies in the strollers.

Well, the daylily is finally going to be moved inside the doggy enclosure although I don't doubt that the deer will climb over the fence. I did see a deer inside the enclosure 2 ft. from our house once. I saw it step over the part that I have cut down a bit so I can climb over easily to get to the garden, and I also saw it soar over the regular height of it when I started down the steps to scare it away. At any rate, I think people have fenced in backyards not only for their dogs and children, but also to keep deer and rabbits out. I have lost several hundred $$ on perennials trying to find plants that deer and rabbits won't eat to the ground.

Since I last posted, so many things have happened, though nothing spectacular. The main thing that took some time was babysitting Magi the Corgi and then setting up another blog with pictures of her. If you type "vandysview" into Google, you will see both blogs. This is a pulitzer prize site for Welsh Corgi pictures!

Then poor Big Brown lost the Belmont. I read all the blog posts on the NY Times blog "The Rail" and the consensus seems to be that either Big Brown needed his May steroid shot, or it was the heat, or his cracked hoof, or the way he was ridden by the jockey. I tend to agree with the latter - first go here, then go there, then don't go fast, then go fast until Big Brown just said the heck with it. I just wanted to run straight from the beginning.

Bill's idea for the Triple Crown is to require all the horses to have to run all 3 races so that they are comparing apples with apples. So, if you ran in the Kentucky Derby (no matter where you came in), then you can run in the Preakness, and if you ran in the KD and the Preakness, then you can run in the Belmont. Then we wouldn't have fresh horses coming into the Belmont as "spoilers." Horses that were distance runners only. Someone else compared it to competing in a triathalon: you can't compete in just the event that you are good in. You need to be able to do the whole ball of wax. Not a good metaphor.

Well as W.C. Fields said: Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. Since I always try to find a conspiracy in sporting events, do you ever wonder how much some people win when the favorite looses and a long-shot wins????