My How the Days Go By

Whew! Funny how a week goes by like a little bug zipping past as you zing down the road on a motorcycle. So it went. It kind of got packed with goings-on, with work on the house, apple-picking, entertaining guests, and of course, a bit of The War, which I couldn't resist. Last Tuesday I led a good discussion of Ivan Doig's The Whistling Season down at the Madison Public Library, and on Thursday I read a few poems to accompany JB's skilled reading of a story about a painter/farmer, both of us attempting to warm up the crowd for Brian Bedard's reading of two stories, a new one and one from his collection Grieving on the Run, published by Snake Nation Press. He had everyone laughing and enjoying his stories before the night was through. Friday evening the wife and I hustled to make the house nice for guests, then went to friends to help select good coffees for an upcoming coffee kiosk in Madison. That was a treat. Then my daughter, her charming fellow, and my youngest son showed up and got their first look at the big new place. We had a good Saturday, hanging out, trying out the pellet gun, picking up apple crud, picking good apples, and getting the big bookshelves into the second floor office. We took the kids out for a meal at our dandy new El Vaquero Mexican restaurant. Saturday night we hosted family members and roasted marshmallows, grilled burgers and brats, and played croquet. Sunday I got my last long run (2 hours, 36 minutes) in for the marathon, and we had a good brunch before they had to dive into the Contour for their long drive back to the cities. It was a dandy weekend, but something got to us Sunday and the wife and I were both under the weather yesterday. Today, so far, is better.