Friday, January 2, I looked out at the birch tree below the garden and there perched in the top was a beautiful fellow.  A fine example of a red-tailed hawk.  I walked swiftly to the office and returned to capture this image of him.

Oops!

Life is like that.  Sometimes.

After missing Dad’s flight to Florida on Friday.  We were able to keep him with us for another three days.  I think we all enjoyed that.

This morning we loaded luggage and people into the Jeep (just in case) and started for the airport.  Everything was going fine until I went to enter the I-96 expressway.  As I approached the speed of surrounding traffic, the vehicle began to shake a lot.  I drove into town under 60 mph.

We did get to the airport on time and Dad was securely “stowed” aboard.  We watched until his plane pushed back from the terminal.  Sylvia called her sister to confirm that Dad was headed her way and on time.

After Sylvia made a few phone calls, it now looks like we’ll get a repair estimate sometime on Wednesday.  (We are not the only ones to have a bad day on Friday.)

Speaking of Friday, that was also the day that something went wrong with this computer.  It appears that MS Office is the only software that refuses to work.  I tried running the repair utility.  No joy.  I ran the more extensive repair procedure.  No change.  I uninstalled and reinstalled.  Still ugly.

I’m not a very happy camper just now.  And still I think of the words of John Carter,*  “I yet live.”

* John Carter is the protagonist in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tales of Barsoom.  John is from Earth and wakes to find himself on Mars (Barsoom).

Update

I just received a callback from my friend and computer guru, Robert.  He’ll pick up my computer this afternoon and repair it for me.  That’s his business so it’s not just a favor for a friend, but I’ll not begrudge him a single cent.

Hey look.  I’m smiling.  A little bit.