Day 40

Claire walks me ragged on the wilderness trail. Matthew beats me badly at video games.

Day 39

Got up earlier than planned because Dickie's contractors showed up early to work on his den, so I showered, dressed, and left as soon as possible to get out from underfoot. I walked for an hour and then stopped by the little bakery on 16th for coffee and pastry while reading some more of Sharlet's book, _The Family_. Then to Mama's house for a couple of hour visit. Charles and I went to Cafe Calypso for lunch and then through the Mrs Winters drive-thru for country fried steak and buscuits for Mama's lunch.

Later I borrowed one of Dickie and Carolyn's autos and drove down to Murfreesboro to visit Claire and family. Much to my surprise I managed to find the place with no directions. Claire was at the grocery with Matthew but Andy was home and we had a good visit till she showed up. Later I went with Andy to pick up dinner at Cozumel, their favorite Mexican restaurant.

Claire has been wanting me to watch "Freaks and Geeks" for years and they recently bought the entire season on DVD so we had to watch a couple of episodes. Really very funny, so I guess I'll have to get the rest from Netflix. We stayed up until almost 2:00 AM talking music - Andy was distressed at Rolling Stone's top 100 album of all time picks, so we had to discuss the merits and demerits of each and lament all of our favorite music that didn't make the cut.

I slept on Daniel's bed (he slept with the parents - not uncommon) and I slept well.

Day 38

Up early and walking in a pretty brisk morning. I stopped at Bongo Java at Five Points for strong coffee before heading out to walk the neighborhood for an hour before visiting Mama.

In the afternoon Dickie, Charles and I go for a walk on the Green way starting at the Welcome Avenue entrance. We walk as far as the pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland, cross it on principle, and then walk back. Good walk but not enough shade on the walk for a hot and sunny afternoon.

Day 37

A chilly morning in the 40's and I'm not quite ready for it. Go out for a long walk early and walk all the way to town and back (about six miles) before going to visit my mother. Alternate between reading and walking - and visiting with Mama - for the rest of the day.

Wednesday night is the traditional dinner at Joe's. Charlie, Carolyn, and I ride over around 6:00 (Dickie is teaching). Jenny, Ben, and Naomi Rose are already there. Very pleasant evening.

Day 36

Up early and read on Dickie and Carolyn's front porch for an hour, then shower and head out for a walk. On impulse dropped into a neighborhood hair salon for what turned out to be the absolute worst haircut I have ever had - then walked fast for an hour to work through the anger.

I visited with Mama for a couple of hours, listened to genealogical updates, watched soap operas and the 700 Club. Dickie and Charles wanted to go out for lunch so we drove over to Mitchels, a neighborhood sub that is new since I was in town and then picked lunch up for Mama from Windy's.

That afternoon I walked to Shelby Park and sat by the pond and read for a while before continuing on to the Green Way and walking a mile or so on it while having a phone conversation with Claire. I walked a lot further than i intended and was exhausted by the time I got back to Dickie's house.

I had an early evening visit with Mama and then returned to Dickie and Carolyn's placed for a diner of chili - perfect for the weather - and a couple of hours of various CSI shows - something I haven't experienced before.

Day 35

This was a travel day. I'm flying to Nashville for a couple of weeks to visit family. The first flight was cancelled so I rebooked on a later flight which was delayed, delayed again, delayed yet again, and finally cancelled as well. Rebooked on a third flight I got out of town several hours later than scheduled. Despite the fact that fewer people are flying (note the virtually empty U S Air Club) all flights seem to be overbooked due to reduced flight schedules and having to accommodate all those from frequently cancelled flights. I expect that within five years there will be no domestic air service except for the very rich.

I got picked up at the airport by brother Charles, dropped off bags at my brother Dickie's house and walked down to my mothers. Dickie lives at one end of the block and my mother on the other end in the 1500 block of Stratton Avenue. Mama seems a lot better than the last time I visited - stronger, more alert and not in so much discomfort. I visited a while and then went back to Dickie's for the night.

Day 34

I pretty much did nothing today. I didn't go out for a walk even though it was a beautiful and cool morning, electing instead to drink coffee and read the Sunday Times and Post. Neither very exciting but it's the leisurely Sunday morning experience I have missed. I spent the morning and a big part of the day taking advantage of the bench in our front yard - a quiet, lovely place to sit and read, even if my reading continues to be somewhat depressing. Today I started re-reading Mark Lynas's book _Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet_. This book reviews hundreds of scientific studies that deal with what each degree of warming might mean for the world. Six degrees had been considered the unlikely upper limit of climate change this century and promises a world that is virtually uninhabitable by current standards. Now it seems that the unlikely has become a 'good' bet. The most recent statements from the IPCC suggest that six degrees warming over the next century is likely. Ironically, the more strongly they try to sound the alarm the less attention is paid to them by the press.

K was off at church and then to Harris Teeter in support of her new plan to cook all of the Italian recipes in Cook's Illustrated's Italian selection. I'm not complaining. Today she whipped up a couple of batches of biscotti (amazing) and is currently finishing up with veal scalopini for dinner. WONDERFUL. I missed this when I was travelling all the time for work. One of our family jokes is remembering when my company explained their stingy food allowance by saying that they didn't think anyone should expect to eat better on the road than at home! I couldn't even come close at twice the money.

Tomorrow I'm travelling to Nashville to visit family for a couple of weeks. It has been years since I had more than a day or so at one time to visit, so this will be a real experiment. It will give me time also to see friends I don't often see, so I'm looking forward to it. It will be a real change of pace since I can't afford to rent a car for two weeks I will be walking, taking the bus, and bumming rides. We'll see how that works.