The power of the written word

no, I didn't do this one.....

Great story and illustrations, Peter and Maria! I have been famous for my flat tires in bad weather and bad locations, but now I see there are worse things than flat tires.

One in the hubcap is worth two in the bush....

Today Maria put a slightly different twist on this old saying....

Maria was driving back to work after going home for lunch. While driving she heard a THUMP THUMP THUMP sound coming from her tire. Thinking that her tire was going flat, she was concerned, but decided to drive the rest of the way to work since the tire didn't seem to be completely flat. She got to work and discovered the source of the thumping sound. It appeared to be a rope of some sort dangling out of a hole in the hubcap on her tire. She went to pull the rope out of the hubcap when she realized, horror stricken, what the "rope" actually was. It was a SNAKE!

Maria was too horrified to actually remove the snake herself (understandably), and so she drove all the way home with that sickening THUMP THUMP THUMP noise in the background. When I got home I jacked up the car, took the wheel off, and surgically extracted the snake.. Wow, that sure gave me the willies.. ewww.

pictures of our slithering friend to follow - >

Letter from Bloomington

Hi Andersons,
It's great reading what everyone is up to! I've been having a fun summer in Bloomington, doing my research and taking some time off for fun activities:



(Minnesota isn't the only state with lakes)

I'm also moving to a new apartment at the end of July and will have a new address:

809 S. Henderson, Apartment #2
Bloomington, IN 47401

I'm having fun with my new Apple iBook and its wireless connection that I bought off the remnants of my grant. The future is now!
Happy rest of the summer! It's great hearing about everyone's trips--
Ingrid

Thanks for the pictures and report of the trip, John and Lynda. It looks fabulous! And, Mae, we certainly hope you can come and visit in August. We always have an extra bed.

Norris worked until 3:30 am this morning, helping to rearrange the store. Local people might have read about Marshall Field's reinventing itself in the Saturday Mpls. paper. They are adding a lot more trendy brands, even to the extent of leasing space within a store to other companies.

Liv worked at another car show this weekend, but it was not nearly as popular as the "Back to the 50s" one, so they closed up shop early on Sunday. They had lots of breakfast biscuits 'n gravy left over.

Liv and I are leaving on Friday for Pine Ridge Reservation. Three adults, seven girls, two minivans, Wall Drug, Mt. Rushmore, and the poorest county in the United States!

Hi everyone,
Thanks again to Ingrid for posting our photos. Well, it was the most complicated vacation I ever organized, but it was worth it. A really beautiful area as you can see, and we had outstanding weather (sunny in the 70's) which is not the norm. The islands are great, and you can ride those ferries for free if you walk on or bike. We had an afternoon in Seattle on Fri. visiting the Dusty Strings music store where I got to try th Fluke ukulele, and the Pike Place public market. Then it was flying back to Atlanta on Sat. arriving home about 10 pm. If anyone has a chance to visit the San Juan Islands I recommend it.

John

Wow
I was just gearing up to say something about summer doldrums and how little there was of late on the blog, and then those pictures were added! Beautiful!

Three Pictures from John & Lynda's trip to Washington




"The first picture is a beach area we stopped on Lopez Island while biking."



"The view of the ferry boats shows one leaving Orcas (where we stayed) and one arriving early in the a.m."



"The final one shows us on top Mt. Constitution the highest
point on Orcas. We drove up and walked the last mile to the top."

AP Scores
I got my AP scores in the mail finally! I got a four on both Biology and European History! (The scale is 1-5. 4=Well Qualified. 3 is the lowest passing score.) A four on an AP test is equivalent to an E (Exceeds Expectations) on an OWL in Harry Potter.
----Livvi'i

Hey everyone, it's John here from the Lopez Island public library -- couldn't find a cybercafe. Lynda and I have had a wonderful day biking on this island. Now we have some time to kill before our ferry back to where we're staying on Orcas Island. Very beautiful vistas of water and mountains and island farms everywhere. Had lunch at a place called Agate Bay -- picked up a few rocks, but rock collecting and biking don't really mix that well. Taking a few digital pictures so maybe we'll have some to share.

John

Hi:

Here is a photograph of Koko as an orphan mutt on the doorstep. It's a joint effort: Norris posed him, I took the picture, and Joel adjusted the color electronically as the flash hadn't gone off. And of course, Koko looked cute. Do you think he can be the next Mr. Winkle?

happy birthday norris!

July 9, 2003
Happy Birthday, Norris! I hope your birthday is full of adventure! We're looking forward to seeing you on Saturday.
Maybe your dad will show me how to make those nifty pictures.

/\
( _ )

(This is Norris with a birthday hat on his head!! ) I guess I don't need any help after all, Joel... Nancy

Happy 21st, Norris!

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Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Maria and I went up to Hayward, WI to the parent's cabin on Round Lake. It was a beautiful weekend up there, and we had a great time fishing, going to flea markets, eating at the original Famous Dave's restaurant, and watching fireworks on the 4th at the Casino. And the sunsets both nights were beautiful! Here's one of them!



I hope the rest of my family had a good trip to Illinois for Pete and Diane's 25th anniversary! Happy Anniversary guys!

Tom- Have you ever considered joining the Peace Corps?
Liv

Bloomin' Hostas!
From a picture that John passed on - a blooming "Fried Green Tomato":

From the Buford Avenue Missile Agency: Independence Day!
Independence from gravity! At least for a moment or two, I went down and launched three rockets - my small contribution to the black powder industry of the USA!

Earlier today, we watched the parade down Como in St. Anthony Park (marchers included an "Anaphylaxis and Food Allergy Support Group") . At the park Teresa and I played in the band (I got to sing, too) for the festivities. Especially notable is the fact that Kokomo got to come with us! He doesn't get out much, at least to such exciting places - but he was very well behaved. He sat on Liv's lap during our concert - finally he understands why Teresa practices those crazy drums (he usually hides around the corner from her when she is practicing).

Great to see more activity here! We're looking forward to hearing more! John and Lynda, I bet there are E-cafe's in Washington!

I must admit I impressed myself still being in 4th place of the posting stats while not having posted for a couple months or something like that. Here's the deal- I have two bachelor's degrees and no jobs. I might have some work coming up with a friend of mine who does construction work and so I'm hoping that works out. Otherwise I'm writing a novel about a man named Jack who has never left Pittsburgh but has a great National Geographic collection in his basement and he reads them and learns all about these far off countries and distant lands and then he goes around to dinner parties and lies to people about all the adventures he's had in foreign lands with the finest mysterious women of the world's cosmopolitan urban centers and lost corners.

Then, I meet Jack and we go on a trip to Mexico City and climb the pyramids and he cries.

That's the climax.

Well, without a job, I figured I might as well spend my time productively. I've also been helping a friend of mine record an album. Get all the details at www.jeremyerickson.com.

okay, hope everyone is well. Tom.

It's great to have so many new posts! Happy 4th of July!