Wednesday, April 7

Slept well last night, finally, and was up at 6:30 to get ready to go to water aerobics. The water in the pool is still cool, but was pleasant once I got used to it. Twenty of us showed up this morning, more than have attended in a long time. I guess the warmer weather is bringing them out.

Back home, I dressed to go to a luncheon meeting at a popular downtown restaurant. Six of us, members of the visual arts committee of the area arts council, gathered to discuss updating the art gallery. One of the members had gone to a resort town about three hours from us to tour the galleries and talk to the owners. She brought back several ideas that we can use to give the gallery a face lift without spending a lot of money.

Following the meeting, I ran a few errands, while Hubbie worked in the garden. Afterward, Mother and I repaired the lids on oatmeal box pinhole cameras. I learned this morning that I will be working with 97 kids at the school. There are 26 kids in one of the four classes, so that is the maximum number of pinhole and 35 mm cameras I'll need. I'll be spending a lot of time over this week and next getting everything ready for the sessions.

For supper we had hamburgers/turkey burgers, potato salad, made from leftover mashed potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob. Mother went home afterward.

Later, Hubbie and I went to a program at the college about how birds achieve certain brilliant colorations through eating specific foods in order to attract females. The speaker, a biologist, experimented mainly with American goldfinches, and house finches, introducing substances into their food to change their color. When he produced orange or red American goldfinches, the females rejected them in favor of their bright yellow counterparts. He talked about other experiments, too, but the coloration changes were the most interesting to me.

After the program, we ran by the gas station to fill the van. Then, on the way home, we were slowed by an accident at the crossroad leading to our house. A cattle truck had turned too sharply to the right and dragged his trailer into the ditch. It was tilted at a warped angle, and cattle were loudly bawling inside it. From the tilt of the trailer, I figure the cattle were piled on top of each other. Several police cars, lights flashing, and a couple of large tow trucks were at the scene. Guys were peering under the trailer, trying to figure out the best way to handle the grim situation. Guess we'll learn more about the accident in the local newspaper tomorrow.

At home, we watched a one-hour show and the 10 p.m. news before heading to bed.

Today was a sneezy day, thanks to yellow pollen thick enough to cut with a machete. Our vehicles are coated with the stuff. There was a threat of thunderstorms today, which would have settled the pollen a little. But though the sky darkened, and thunder rumbled a bit, there was only a sprinkle of rain...just enough to muddy the pollen on the van's windshield.