Saturdays .Air

[eric byrne]

Good Morning All,

Sorry about my absence,thought I would spend last night in the hotel and catch up with the mail.What a disaster,my cursor kept freezing,so it was hours of forcing shutdown and re-booting?the netbook,all to no avail.I was also trying to post in my USA pics to date,without a mouse,I dont have the dexterity,to scroll them "blue" to capture them as a file to post in,the netbook would,without my input,automatically load only one and post it,so I have the one pic posted several times in facebook.I have Rebecca now on board looking after me,she and KatieB have set me up with a flickr account,which should make the task easier for me,well I did manage to scroll them all-203-yeah I know-but that was after a serious editing,you've guessed it-flickr message-you have used more than your monthly allowance-unless you want to click the "professional " box?,I decided to pass,and go to bed.I think my first priority is buy a mouse from some where.Oh Rebecca thinks there is some fault in my battery,so its been detached and I am working from direct mains,oh I wish I had just brought my laptop with me,I dont even know where to go to get my netbook checked over.

I have so much to share with you,about Richmond and being with Annette and Keith,meeting up with Randy,Lisa,Annette's Mum and her daughter Christine, also her neighbours and the twins,think that embraces everyone I met,not forgetting many of Richmonds inhabitants that I encountered.I have to say ,honestly,I just couldnt have spent my time in better company-anywhere-anytime,thanks everyone for making my stay so "Brill" and unforgettable.

My Richmond stay,included some to the many attractions around,think to do the area justice,I would have needed weeks if not months to visit.The places we visited,include,well,first let me mention ,the restaurants and the food-wow-lets just say my diets been kicked into touch.I just cannot believe the quality of service you take for granted.In Scotland you get whats on the menu,asking for anything otherwise eg a particular other type of salad dressing to ONE thats stated,will be met with utter contempt,that you have dared to question their choice of what you should have to eat,since they know mch better than you.Thanks to Annette and Keith, since I had only a limited time,they chose a super mix of things to visit,Monument Avenue,they even arranged for me to attend a July the 4th party there,where I got to join in a sing song with a guy playing the keyboard,he was good,I even bought one of his CDs,(using Keiths money-isnt that so Scottish?)We also visited Hollywood Cemetery,no it wasny full of movie stars,it was the fallen servicemen from the many wars that has taken place since your countries inception,particularly,the civil war,amazing to think,nearly 500,000 died in that struggle compared to 52,000 who died in the ten years of the Vietnam war?.

Next day,Colonial Williamsburg-now if you have been to this,mark it in your to do list,since this place is just wonderful,the recreation of a town in the eighteenth century in the USA,done with such thoughtfulness,buildings ,farms,people all dressed up for their part and holding their characters throughout the day,was just super.There were also throughout the day many staged events of everyday living eg musket drill,this was fun,tourists given sticks as muskets as the drill sergent put them through their paces,he barks his orders to them,methinks,he has lost the plot and is really taking these tourists for recruits.Well this place has its place for Scotland,theres a Scottish shop,Keith found a tartan tie in,his family tartan would you believe?.Then a visit to the Governors Palace,a beautiful building,occupied at the time by a Scot called Lord Dunbar(he owned a dog called Glasgow).Highlight at the end of the day was a parade through he streets of redcoats playing pipes and drums,we woukd say fyfes and drums,not to confuse the word with bagpipes.

The next day we spent at the Museum of the Confederancy and the White House of the Confederancy.I do know some of the Principals,Keith knew a lot more than me,of course,but it did give me a little tingle as a foreigner and a Scot to have been standing in the same rooms as Lee,Grant and even Lincoln who had just days later visited the Ford theatre.

I have to move on to WashingtonDC,(Thurs)it is a sad parting for me,I have to leave Annette and Keith,I dont know what lies ahead for me,but I do know,I wont share better company,one day in a posh modern shopping mall,we sat on the perimeter wall of a fountain,and just as I did at the Trevi fountain,I threw in a coin over my shoulder,which now guarantees my return.Bye for now,I will have Chapter two-WashingtonDC to describe to you,starting to-night,I may aslo wander back to Richmond as other events drift back into my mind,I hope you dont mind subsequent confusion of events,I so miss you all,and all the blethers,hoping now,I can maintain better links,please God,when I press the submit button this works,I dont have microsoft word in this netbook to pre-write.Oh any questions you have about my trip please ask,only too pleased to reply,Bye all,God Bless.

[RandyW]

was a pleasure and an honor to meet you Eric!!!

[ts]

Let's see Eric, when you get to Seattle, we can have you visit the fish ladder and with any luck, their might be some salmon to see. History? Uh oh.

[Annette]

Stephanie - LOL - history uh oh - that is me - and that is why I was grateful to have my daughter show Eric around Colonial Williamsburg and Keith was their for Hollywood Cemetery. Whenever they start talking history I always ask if I am being punished. I much prefer to be the expert on Reality TV. Yep that's me.

I am resting - being a couch potato while Keith is out mowing the yard. Had some bad storms last night just as we were getting ready to watch a movie so we wound up hunting up candles and batteries and laying around reading. I gave up at 10 and went to sleep - he tells me I slept right through the lights coming back on around 1 a.m.

This week has flown by - I wish I had another week to sleep and recover. We will get up early and head back into town to shop for my mom and get ready for well the grindstone.

Hope everyone is out enjoying the good weather today and not sweating like crazy in the sun. It was in the 70's this morning when I got up now it's in the upper 80's and muggy. Better get back to the XBox before Keith finishes the yard.

Annette

[Joppette]

Hi! It's 11:40PM now. Got up early for this awesome home town fair in the little town I live by. Loved,loved, lovedit. I helped out at the Wellness Center, which focuses on health and well being, weight loss, high blood pressure control, diabetes, and so much more. It was awesome. They had some athletes come by to teach Zumba on the streets. It was so cool to see random folks just jumping in and dancing.

Went by the "wet tank" for the sherriff. What a hoot. He was in a plastic booth, and on top was a toilet. The kids got three wet bean bags to throw at the plunger, and if they hit it, the sherriff got drenched with water from the toilet. If they missed, he got to hit them with a high pressure water gun. It was so funny. I completely enjoyed the small town atmosphere.

I strolled around the entire fair, just taking in the local folks, the community and it was just a good thing.

We had a large party to go to tonight. It was on a local lake, and the weather was fabulous. Lots of good food, fun folks to talk to. Didn't drink much. Don't really see the point of it, but he had a band playing and did a bit of dancing! Nice!

Our town is dealing with so much right now. First was the tragedy of the shootings. Four of the family members killed were friends of ours. Not close friends, but still friends. The other 3 were closely connected to the others. So sad.

Then Betty Ford died. You might know that Jerry Ford who was president, was a resident of our town. Betty Ford forged the way for open communication for women with breast cancer. In addition, she made addiction issues one that were a disease, not a moral corruption. She was beloved here, and it will be a big deal as we mourn her, and have her body buried next to her husband at the Gerald Ford museum in our town.

On the other front, the spasm thing....the neurologist asked me to cut 100 mg of Dilantin on Tuesday of last week. He's hoping I can wean off the medication. Today I was tired from the Wellness Fair, and tried to take a nap, and couldn't sleep due to spasms in my back. I'm trying to not complicate this. It could be that I spent hours on my feet, and that the spasms are just a result of that. And yet? I also wonder if my body is not happy with the weaning off of the medication. I hope not.

We will just have to see as we continue the elimination process.

Well, it's very late and I need to sleep. Take care.

Judy in MI

[RandyW]

I am sorry to hear of all the loss and tragedy that surrounds you Judy. These are trying times an events.

I am glad you were all able to kick back and have a little fun though! It usually does not seem right to have fun at such a sad time but it is ok I believe!