Laying low (with apologies to Dad W.)
September 6, 2009

A down day in more ways than one: I have not been feeling up to snuff for several days and this was no exception. We spent the morning charting family history data gained in Fort Wayne, working on the North Carolina families, primarily Bracken, Cantrell and Stalcup, with an eye to being ready to do more research on them when we get to that area.

After a rare but very welcome nap, we drove to Portland (not Oregon) to the flicks. It was a theater in the downtown, a fairly depressed looking section of town, a condition that seems to have been created similarly in thousands of other small towns in America - the relocation of most business to chain-store strips away from town center. Upon eyeing the exterior, I admit to a moment of hesitation about continuing on the venture, but once inside the Ritz Theater, we found it to be totally enjoyable albeit a bit charmingly funky.

Smiles greeted us at every turn - from the lady who sold us our tickets to the lady who sold us our popcorn - oops, it was the same lady. We watched Sandra Bullock in “The Proposal”. It was a cute, predictable story line. The best part was getting to see Sitka, Alaska.

Portland is just over a half-hour away. I don’t tire of driving through these parts, and luckily, Chris tears around on these back roads, really knowing his way around. He often states an intent to go somewhere we’ve been “a different way” and off he goes turning this way and that and getting right to our destination while seeing all new country. In the meantime, I would find it impossible to get there using the same route we’ve taken ten times. To give myself a bit of credit, it does make a difference whether one is driving or gazing out at each and every farmyard. I’m the gazer; he’s the driver most of the time.

Again tonight, we are sitting out on the patio creating a concert (I’m the audience along with most of the rest of the park residents). The musicians are Chris, of course, and Joe. Joe and his wife, Debbie, are our neighbors; he plays the guitar, and they are having a great old time with the blues and more. We’ve enjoyed getting to know them in and around the music. Too bad Ben's not here, too. Geez, what an idea - the ultimate pick-up band, with a member from every RV park we stop at.

As a non-musician, it amazes me to see two strangers sit down together and create music - marvelous!

News flash: Trinity Grace, my most beautiful grandchild, has sprung her first tooth, displaying all the attributes of a precocious and amazing small person.

Our sunshine has departed; the day was overcast from what would have been sunup to what would have been sundown, and delivered the slightest of drizzles now and then, holding the temperatures in the low 70s all day.

Best movie theater policy: Free popcorn refills until it’s gone (at the Ritz in Portland, Indiana).

Second best movie theater policy: Any sign of any kind of cell phone usage results in immediate expulsion from the premises (also at the Ritz).