I am off today to meet Maryanne halfway between her house and mine, to pick up Emma and Will. I will bring them back here until Saturday, then meet the Helms in Canton in order to see the painting Anna has exhibited there at the county office...Andrew will come, too. From there, we will go to Maryanne's overnight so can have Easter Sunday together. Neil and Melissa will be there with their babies, as well...Grace and Justin with the Fryes...I am looking forward to all this, of course, but will be missing my remote family! How I wish we could all be together!

I don't know whether or not I told most of you that there was a policeman shot in our parking Lot at Hopeline recently...He was investigating a robbery at a pawnshop close by...The escapee criminal, shooting at the police, had been shot and hit by a police car while trying to run away, but got one last shot into the poor fellow's face when he came over to verify his condition...The policeman, a Christian, was trying to use only a tazer (sp.?) at that point.

I was up in the middle of the night doing things I really should do during the day - officey things...I am amazed that I still have next to no time to self-indulge....Not a bad thing, I suppose...

I close with a joke Wayne told recently....A navy ship picked up a fellow who had been shipwrecked,the lone inhabitant of a remote island. On his island they noticed three huts he had built. They asked him why three...He said, One is my home, one is the church I go to, and one is the church I recently left!....Ha ha! Still, I don't underestimate the difficulties in finding a stable, long-term church!

After several weeks of communal living - both here and in Canada - we are again a family of two...Aunt Laura flew off yesterday morning, but was not due to get home until 10:15 pm...Poor thing! To save money, I booked her on a flight with two stopovers, never thinking what that would mean to a heavy smoker! She went well-fortified with Nicorette gum, but am wondering how she fared...

It was lovely having her here for a few days. We did some local touring into the mountains - first, along Lookout Mt, enroute to Grace's, and then into the Cumberland Plateau toward Nashville - destination a small town called Suwanee - home of The University of the South....Suwanee is part of an Anglican preserve - thousands of acres, I believe, owned by the Episcopalians and developed by them. Theology is no longer their strongpoint, but aesthetics still are...The town is exquisite - almost entirely grey stone buildings. They have erected a memorial cross from which you have a bird's eye view of surrounding country -beautiful! I would love to go some Sunday afternoon and follow the walking trails through the mountains.

It continues hot and sunny here, though apparently was much rain while we were away. This afternoon we have the women's bible study so will not be out enjoying it, but do enjoy the time with the ladies - a trade-off!

Tim actually met Rob yesterday! They spent a couple of hours together at the Mississauga Yacht Club. Apparently, it was relaxed and "easy"...I still find it all hard to believe!

In any case, I just wanted you all to know I am still alive and kicking! Will try to wrote more regularly the next few weeks...