My Day

Note: Evidently, I posted after midnight on Monday, which must explain why that day's post says August 4. Now onto tonight's post before midnight--
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After a lazy start to my day, I sat down to my bowl of cereal at 9. By the time I read the paper, drank coffee, watched a bit of news on the kitchen TV, and heard Gerald’s plans for the day when he came through the kitchen, it was close to 10:30 when I went downstairs for a brief time in my office.

Gerald was going back to Missouri for parts of some kind and then to Anna to pick up the sharpened chain saws that were not yet ready when he went down Thursday. His two brothers are there, and he was also hoping to find time for coffee with the boys at Dixie Barbecue in Jonesboro. I knew he would not be back for lunch, so I felt no time pressure.

I ran by Katherine’s house and then onto Senior Citizens Day at Krogers. I have missed for a couple of months, so I bought way too many groceries. By the time I unloaded the car and put away those that needed to be in the fridge or freezer, I was ready for a snack and TV news break.

I really wanted to take a nap, but didn’t since I had an early Trail of Tears board meeting at 5 on the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus, where one of our board members works it out for us to meet in the conference room of the geology department. I left home in time to run by Katherine’s again since we really did not get to visit this morning and then onto Carbondale.

Vickie Devenport of WSIU was invited to talk to us about a grant to help promote a PBS special series this fall, and she has suggested we cooperate on a fall tour. After a great deal of brainstorming about this exciting venture, we turned next to watch the latest Rich-Heape video on “How to Trace Your Native American Heritage.” We decided this video would make a good winter program, and Gary Hacker invited us to show it in conjunction with the Johnson County Historical and Genealogical Society which meets at the Vienna library.

Finally, we were down to our business meeting. Since we had only the briefest of meeting actually held in a parking lot in June and none since, we were not out until 8:30. After a brief exchange with another board member as we tried to catch up on personal/family news in the darkened campus parking garage, we went our opposite ways on Route 51. I drove the 45 minute trip home under a full August moon, ate a sandwich for a belated supper and brought the mail down to Gerald on my way to the computer.

He just came into tell me that Tara’s 18U Southern Force lost their two games today. First, the Atlanta Vipers beat them 3-1, and this afternoon, California’s Corona Angels won over them 2-1. In a double elimination tourney, that means she is now free to drive from Oklahoma to Georgia to pick up her sons and head back to her husband in northern Illinois. The Force had done well in practice/pool games, and I am sure this is not what Tara expected or wanted. But seeing her family sooner is also a nice reward. We will still be following the tournament, but not with the intense interest we would have had.