Monday, July 14, 2008  -  HE SAID:  Today was the nicest weather we have had so far in Minnesota.  Sunny and warm but not hot.  We did our walk today through the cemetery in Cohasset.  I recognized a lot of names including my former police chief and one of my partners from my days on the Grand Rapids Police Department.  We decided to stop at the local casino and tried out the penny slots.  Marce won a $50.00 jackpot and I won $6.00.  We quit while we were ahead and went to my brother Howard's house where we met my other brother Clifford and his wife Edna and played poker.  It has become a tradition going back several years that we try and get in at least one poker game while we are here.  It is a lot fun and I look forward to next year already.  We only play for pennies and nickels, so if you are a big loser like I was you only lose a couple of dollars.  After our poker game we went out for dinner at the Forest Lake Lodge in Grand Rapids.  It was a really good meal.  On the way home I saw my brother in law Doug on his tractor baling hay.  I stopped to help and Marce took the truck back to the trailer.  I drove the tractor while Doug and two of his friends loaded two trailers of baled hay.  It looked like a storm was coming in and they wanted to get it in before it got wet.  After I got back to the trailer it was after 10:00 p.m. and there was constant lightning until I went to bed around 11:00.  No rain, but a lot of thunder and lightning.  Weird weather.

Monday, July 14, 2008  -  SHE SAID: Well, as Don has reported above, we had another full and fun day. Between having an insightful & much enjoyed conversation with Dar, winning a nice jackpot at the casino, eating a ton of great food, being thoroughly entertained by Don's brothers, Howard & Cliff, who could have a killer comedy act with their suble, dry wit, and getting to visit with my other sisters-in-law, the lovely Babe & equally lovely Edna, the day was absolutely wonderful.

Throw in seeing 4 bald eagles soaring & circling overhead earlier in the day at Doug & Dar's, and then being treated to an evening storm, watching the flashes of lightening dance to the rumble of thunder--well, jeepers, what more can you ask for? (Okay, maybe being able to share it with our 4 beautiful grandkids!)

And, I do have to add that I am blown away watching Doug do what he does every day--which is work as hard as any young guy half his age.  If he isn't riding by on his lawnmower or chopping wood,  he's out in some field taking care of cutting down acres of hay, then he's throwing the bales onto a trailer bed, and this goes on well into the late evening.  Apparently, Doug doesn't know he's 68...