I took this picture from our driveway on Saturday afternoon. We even talked to the people in the balloon. This guy yelled down to us, "I don't know where we're going!"

"Really?" we said and we all laughed. Maddie, the Amazing Barking Dog had a field day with this, as you might imagine.

Lindsey and Brent came up for the weekend. They went to the Cubs/Cardinals game in Chicago on Friday night, then a wedding on Saturday in Fort Wayne. On Sunday, we went to church, then for a walk and then Lindsey went to a bridal shower and Brent and I watched football and the Ryder Cup, and ate vegetable soup with sourdough bread. I filled him in on some of my sports theories and thoughts like: why it was better for the Americans to play without Tiger and why I was worried about Troy Polamalu's hair and how I had researched the whereabouts of Jake Plummer - it seems he married a cheerleader and is playing handball in Idaho. Brent was mesmerized. Bob was out in California playing some golf this weekend.



There's a reason why they call our road Hickory Hill Drive. Looks like it's going to be a good year for nuts around here. We've got hickory nuts, walnuts, acorns and beechnuts.






More Musings: My brother-in-law is now coaching football in Carbondale, IL, and this was their homecoming weekend, so I was wondering if they won their big game, which was postponed on Friday night because of lightning, and played on Saturday afternoon. My sister was hopeful for a win against the Centralia Orphans, who hadn't won a game in the last couple of years. The Orphans? I couldn't help but wonder what kind of cheers went up at a pep rally when one was intent upon pulverizing a bunch of orphans.

Southern Illinois University is the home of the Salukis, so the high school team is the Terriers. If the Terriers won the game, would the newspaper headline the next day read: "Terriers Nip Orphans?" Or if they won, really big: "Terriers Maul Orphans?" Doesn't seem very sporting.

Our high school mascot, of course, was the Effingham Flaming Hearts. Chicago radio dj's had a good time making fun of our name when our basketball team played for the state championship in 1980. We always thought it was a great name - so much you can do with it: "Heart's got soul!" "We're givin' you a HEART attack!" "Watch Out, CARDIAC ARREST!"

I know a woman who went to high school in Michigan and they were the tractors.......what, "Tractors Plow Over Orphans?"

Good thing they aren't in the same conference.


FOOD NEWS:





The Chocolate Tootsie Pops are backing up again. Call me.






I'm teaching a pie baking class at the park department on October 21st. It costs ten dollars to take the class, and there will be pie to take home. If you're interested, call me, or call the park department at 347-1064.



Finally: The Blog is one year old this week!! They grow up so fast. Yes, I've been blogging now for one year, most every week, although I did miss a couple of weeks last winter, and of course, when I had the killer influenza. I was reading about a woman who was offered $130,000 to turn her blog about life on a dairy farm in northern England into a book. I wish somebody would see fit to publish a book about all the nuts on Hickory Hill Drive.




"I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they choose a king, they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas." Jack Handey