Back in the land of the working/living. Went to Rhode Island, survived the trip, health actually improved while I was there. Since we rarely do much more than sit around the living room and visit (and drink wine, Limoncello and eat) it wasn't a strenuous trip and I did manage to recuperate from my bronchitis. I called my doctor, who scolded me for going back to work, but said it would take me a long time to feel better. She was right. Now I'm still coughing and snorting (like a horse, no?) but am on the road to recovery. Have 2 more doses of antibiotics left.

Rhode Island was peaceful, not sad as I expected. I am doing all right during this time. I apparently did my mourning, had a depressive episode last month. And what an episode it was. Now I feel ok, I can think of my brother without crying, can remember the wonderful things we did together, the wonderful things he did for me and the joy he brought me. We spent a week together one Thanksgiving when Jenica was in college--he drove out in his truck, came early and stayed at my house, just the two of us. It was the year he began sculpting the landscape around my home. I went to work on Monday morning and told him he could cut down any and as many trees as he wanted. "REALLY?! No one ever said that to me before!" When I came home I was appalled at what I saw: a big huge bare space. He was really nervous about what I'd say, and he asked what I thought. It looks great! I said, I'd never let him know what I really thought, that too many trees were down. "If you live on top of a hill you should have a view," he said. "You should be able to see Whiteface, Catamount, Douglas and Silver Lake Mountain." The next day I went to work again, wishing him good luck and lots of fun. Gradually his sculpting took shape and by the end of the week my land looked wonderful, beautiful, with a spectacular view of the mountains--something I'd never envisioned. I didn't realize I had that view, but he knew it was there. There was one tree, though, that he couldn't cut--it would land on the power line. Boy how that pine tree drove us both crazy over the years. As the years passed he continued to fine-tune the view, always cutting a tree here, a tree there, and I always told him he could cut as many trees as he wanted. I loved watching him cut trees--it was truly one of the great joys of his life.

And now I'm back from my mother's house and I can report that she is doing all right. Her snow is melting fast and the daffodils are up about 5 inches, her snowdrops are in bloom and I saw a crocus blooming as well. She's got a lot more spring than we do here. There's still no bare ground around my house but I'm starting to have problems getting up my driveway, there's mud at the bottom. The driveway is the first to go in mud season. I had a nice Easter with Liza and Mark. We went to inspect the town beach, amid rumors that it had shrunk terribly with the storms of fall and winter. Well, there's not much of it left at high tide. The ocean was beautiful, a deep, deep blue, and it was a clear day. You could see Block Island, Point Judith and there were gentle waves (and a loon!). But the beach was definitely missing. The last time this happened the town trucked in a lot of sand to create a new beach. Let's see what they do this year. As Liza says, there are plenty of beaches for us to go to.

I boarded Jackson while I was gone and when he got home he barked to be let in, barked to be fed then climbed on the couch and went to sleep as if the whole episode had been a dream. Funny boy. The brown girls had a grand visit to Liza's. Tess and Liza's dog adore each other and tear the house apart playing--they rough house and we let them do it for as long as we can stand it before throwing them in the pen. Someone ate half of the dead fish from the pond but it wasn't my dogs, they didn't have time. So far there were 2 dead fish, don't know about fish #3. Big fish.

And Ken missed me while I was gone, he said it 3 times. "It's just not right when you're not here in the neighborhood." We had a good visit last night and caught up on the news. Terry Schiavo and the Pope are still alive. He collected $4 more for the iceout pool. Our friends the Holts were here for the weekend with the plans for their new house--they plan to start construction this summer. Ken and I are back on track, I'll stop there tonight.

And now work beckons. Catalog that iron mining collection for Port Henry.