Hello

I'm here.  Cliff and I went for a motorcycle ride to Barnett, Missouri, to visit with a couple of his cousins.  Great ride, although I wish we had done it in the summer when there were more hours of daylight.  That way, we could have had more time to chat with these people we love.  

We had our usual picnic on Highway 5, north of Tipton.  As you can see, the leaves are starting to change.   OK, Cliff had the usual picnic of sardines; I took a peanut butter sandwich because I prefer the expensive sardines but I'm too cheap to buy them, so shoot me.

Edna, Cliff's cousin, tried to take a picture of us with her new camera as we were leaving, but she couldn't figure out how to make the thing work; neither could I.  I told her to use my camera, and I would email her the picture.  How do we look?  

It was quite a day

Indeed, a strange and varied day. In the picture: Cliff flanked by two cousins, Junior and Edna (they're brother and sister); and on the right, his sister Rena.


It wasn't a happy occasion that got them together. Junior's youngest son, who lived in this area, succumbed to cancer Thursday; today was the day of the funeral. So Junior and Edna spent the night here last night.

Edna is not only Cliff's cousin, she's also my number one Internet buddy. In fact, I didn't really know her well until we exchanged email addresses; that's how we got acquainted, swapping jokes and websites and writing brief notes to one another.

Junior can play a mean guitar, and has spent many hours singing and playing with local bands, wherever he lived.



Any time I hear "The Year Clayton Delaney Died", I think of Junior. It was written about somebody just like him.

After attending the funeral, Cliff, Rena, and I went to vote. Then we ate lunch at the local Mexican place and Cliff went to work as always.

Indeed, a strange, bittersweet day.