Ocean State
I made it to Rhode Island--the trip was fine, lots of variety of conditions. Downpour, heavy traffic, light traffic, fast driving, slow driving. Nothing of note, same duration as always. New car is nice for traveling, bigger engine, a bit more comfortable. I still haven't finished reading the owner's manual (as 3 people at the dealer have requested I do) so there are things I don't know. Like, yesterday I learned that I can raise the height of the driver's seat. Every time I start reading the manual I get bored so I haven't finished it. Bad writing, boring plot, and it still hasn't told me what I want to know.

We went to the beach yesterday--Mark got us all matching beach chairs, so there we went, Molly, Mark and I, marching to our spot by the water, carrying our coolaroo chairs. M & M swam when we got there, which I should have done because the sun disappeared and it got cold. I had planned to swim every day but so far NOT. I went for a really long swim at camp and it was great. We'll go beaching again today and I'll do my best. Mostly it's just great to sit in my chair and read. I'm working on our book group book--The bird artist, by Norman Arnold (or Arnold Norman, who knows with names that are 2 first names). I've finally read enough to enjoy it. One thing I like about it is that it's set in Newfoundland. There's one description of a series of small peninsulas with a house on each so that residents visit each other by boat. That's an easy image for me to picture.

I'm using Molly's computer for this, and it's Italian so keys are in different places. I think I'm doing pretty well! The letters are in the same places, it's just punctuation & things that are goodness knows where. No complaints, as it was in WI it's nice to have access.

The family gathering (excuse me, I mean meeting) went well. I had a great visit with Jamie's brother, who's an artist. J and I used to spend a lot of time with Nip and his wife but now all 4 of us are divorced. One thing I really liked was that Nip sought me out and was as happy to visit with and confide in me as I was to talk to him. He has 5 kids and of course has problems working out visits and keeping aware of their growing up. Understandable--they live in Va., where Kathy lives with her new moremoneythangod husband.

I'm sleeping in the the screened in gazebo here. It's on a tiny rise, perched in the woods. No view or anything, just surrounded by trees and birds. It's tied with the boathouse as my favorite place to sleep. Or just be in. (oh where is that del key or the question mark) So I'm peaceful, fairly relaxed and really, really enjoying the company of my sister, my mother (though she's old now and I miss my younger, less confused mother) and Mark. And my dogs are happy and relaxed here. Kitty is at the kennel, has a big room with huge window looking out at a big green field. For $15 a day. Just before I left she brought in a dead kangaroo mouse with half a head. She has got to stop decimating the populations of rare mammals. Kangaroo mice are beautiful, with huge back legs and long tails. Prettier alive than dead, and yes, they hop.