Big newspapers print apologies when they get information wrong. So, I (Rose, here) apologize for publishing the ENTIRE WRONG PIECE from Brother Joe. Here is the updated one, and very enjoyable it is! [Joe, you might post the squirrel joke for us. Sounds like a good one.]

I thought I had sent a properly prepared blog comment on Tuesday but somewhere somehow it apparently did not make the trip. This time I am sending it directly to Editor Sue. Also I failed to keep a copy so may not be able to tell the same lie twice but here's trying:

I picked Lisa (our daughter that teaches H.S. Spanish) up at about 5:10 this morning and we headed toward the airport. She said her husband Jack would not fight me over taking her, being it was so early. He leaves to work early also. Anyway, when we arrived at the airport, there were huge lines at the ticket counters. In all my years of traveling in/out of Springfield, I have never seen that many people standing in lines. The storms that passed through last evening and overnight had caused a power outage and downed computers. Lisa and another teacher are headed to Minot, ND for a conference. They change planes in St. Louis and Minneapolis. Lisa is the keynote speaker. Minot is farther north than some or all of the state of Maine. Minot, population 37,000, is the fourth largest city in the state and someone earlier commented has only three seasons, July, August and winter. The teacher Lisa is traveling with has lived in Minneapolis, MN and Norway. She said it was colder in Minneapolis that it was in Norway. So much for geography.

News items from Tandy Whatnots, Greenwood News, Turnbow news, Webster County news and Greene County News are scarce. I don't even know where the preachers ate Sunday dinner either.

Brian Madden and I were to have lunch last Friday but he got busy with the tree trimmers at his house and forgot. We are shooting for dinner again tomorrow. He had been to see his mom (our Aunt Virginia) on Wednesday and said she is getting adjusted to her new place in Buffalo. Sean's pea green Mustang was parked at the grocery store where he works Tuesday as I drove by going to Wheeler Heart and Vascular Center. I have missed seeing him the last couple of times I was at the grocery store. No news from the future winery man, Mike Madden.

In the lost comment, I mentioned doing volunteer work at Wheeler Heart and Vascular Center, part of Cox Hospital and located on Springfield's "Medical Mile" For Pete's sake, as in John Felin, Cox Hospital does have a motel known as Cox Plaza Hotel. It is on the second floor of the building I work in, which has a total of eight floors. A sky walk connects Wheeler Heart and Vascular Center with Hulston Cancer Center and also continuing across National avenue to the main hospital. Since I am a veteran of all three facilities, and some others on the medical mile, I guess the nurse that asked me to volunteer is correct in saying I am an ideal candidate for the job. I only work four hours per week (8-12 Tues. mornings). Even though the building is known as Wheeler Heart and Vascular, there are several other doctors that specialize in other fields including the fifth floor which is Eye Surgeons of Springfield. Most of the patients are returnees and go directly to the elevators and on to their respective appointments. The people that do stop by the entrance desk are usually first timers. Every now and then someone is in the wrong building and needs redirected.

One potential source of excitement, at Wheeler Heart and Vascular, never materialized. Do you remember the song where the guys turned the squirrel loose at a revival and it ran up a woman's dress and she started confessing to all manners of sins? National Avenue was undergoing a big widening project and a ground squirrel, possibly disturbed by the dirt-work, came into the lobby one morning. A well dressed professional looking woman screamed and fortunately (or unfortunately?) the squirrel made a hasty exit. I have no idea who the woman was. End of the story.

One day, during summer vacation, granddaughter Lydia went with me and we ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria. She said something like, "Papa, I have eaten in this cafeteria several times but today is the first time it has been an enjoyable event."

I also mentioned the challenge of competing with the learned scholar reporters for the blog. Since the main editor (Sue) runs it by the Editor-in-Chief Rose, before publishing, maybe that is a hint? So here it comes, Sue and Rose.

Bro Joe