Sunday, Nov. 11

Today is Veteran's Day (though it will also be observed tomorrow). Our gratitude goes to the men and women who have served, or still serve, our country.

We were up around 7:30 this morning, and shortly after breakfast, Hubbie hung our flag on the well house, and Mother's flag on her porch.

Around 9:30, he accompanied Mother to our house, where she diced veggies to add to Dragon Soup. I sauteed the veggies...bell pepper, banana peppers, carrots, celery, and onions...in olive oil, and then added homegrown tomatoes from the freezer, plus herbs and spices, which I let simmer for awhile. Later, I added leftover veggies, meat, rice, etc., collected in the freezer for a few weeks.

The soup was delicious for lunch, served with a choice of cornbread or bran muffins. This kind of soup is different every time it's made, since the leftover veggies, etc., are always different. But it's always wonderful, and it was especially good on this rainy day.

During lunch, we watched a 2008 movie on DVD that we borrowed from the library..."Christmas Cottage," starring Marcia Gay Harden, and Peter O'Toole, among others. This charming movie is about the small town, and its residents, who become the inspiration behind Thomas Kinkaid's paintings.

Following this movie, we began watching a second feature called, "The Conspirators." This 2010 movie is about the trial of Mary Surratt, who was the only female tried as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This is a very interesting movie.

We only watched a half hour or so of it at this point, though, since Mother was ready for a nap, and Hubbie and I decided to go to the museum for a program about astronomy, given by a local astronomer, who has his own observatory with huge telescope in our town.

It was raining a little before we left home, so Hubbie hurried out and brought the flags back in. We feel it's disrespectful to leave the American flag outside in bad weather.

We arrived at the museum around 2 p.m., and the program lasted a little over an hour. The astronomer presented an interesting slide program...shots of galaxies that he has personally taken.

At the end of the talk, one woman commented on how insignificant we are compared to the vastness of the universe. But I think that instead of the vastness of the universe being proof that we are insignificant, it is actually proof of our significance. Because, as far as we know, in all the vastness of the universe, our planet is the only one that God has created to sustain intelligent life.

No sooner were we back in the van for the return trip home than the sky opened up, and it poured rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Naturally, this is when Hubbie discovered that the van was nearly out of gas, so we had to go to the WDCS for a gift card (in order to get ten cents per gallon off), and stop at the gas station to fill up.

I enjoyed seeing the trees on the drive back home. They are still gorgeous. In the rain, they display a softer, muted pallete of autumn colors.

At home, Mother was awake and sitting on the couch, huddled under an afghan. She doesn't like storms. She came into the den, and we watched the rest of the movie, "The Conspirators." Afterward, we had a supper of potato soup and crackers, and then Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, since the rain had eased by this time.

Hubbie and I spent the rest of the evening watching the last two movies we'd borrowed from the library..."Dead Gorgeous," and an Inspector Lynley episode, "In The Presence of the Enemy." Both are British movies from PBS channel.

In "Dead Gorgeous," two women plot the murders of each other's husbands. "In the Presence of the Enemy," is about the kidnapping of the love child of a liberal black member of parliament, and a white conservative newspaper editor.

My stange dreams lately: in one, a niece who lives on the west coast invited me to go see her new house (as far as I know she hasn't acquired a new house). I went...though how I got there, I don't know. After visiting for awhile, I decided it was time to return home. But I wasn't sure how to do that, since I didn't even know how I got there.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that I could just raise my arms and teleport myself back home. So that's what I did...I raised my arms and, voila, I awakened in my own bed.

In the other dream I am testing the waters in new swimming pools. I didn't like the first pool I tested, because while it was very large, the water in it was only ankle deep.

Another pool was very deep, but only about eight feet wide and twelve feet long. And it didn't have any ladders for getting into the pool. Instead, there was a crane with a basket attached. Swimmers had to get into the basket, and be lowered into the pool. I was about to demonstrate how to do this when I woke up.