Puppies!

Nothin' says "welcome home" like a new batch of precious beagle pups. This litter came from Zoe, the well-loved pet of my brother, Randy and his girlfriend Kathy. She raised best of any mother my dad's seen a litter of six.


Dad and me, the morning after I arrived.


Kathy and Randy holding their little ones who, by now, a few weeks older, are home with them.

The drive to Illinois from Nashville was good. Since I had a lot of time to kill, I decided it would be fun to stop at Paducah's riverside. As I parked the car, storm clouds hovered and winds blew but never produced rain, only shade which kept from melting the chocolate in my car.

Had lunch at Doe’s, a local favorite eating (apparently) award-winning enchiladas and visited with a salesman named Mike on his way to Lexington, KY (just a friendly Joe by his lonesome. Why not?). Afterwards, I went to Paducah's National Quilt Museum where I some amazing works of art. It had been quite some years since I'd been.

I arrived home around 5 o'clock to a tremendous fried chicken dinner at Gram’s around six - homemade biscuits, green beans, white gravy, Jello salad, garden salad and blackberry cobbler. Mom was hanging out with her sister chicks so Gram had to take over cooking duty. Thanks, Gram! Afterward, we sat on the lawn, Dad, Gram and me, as weather was nice, cool breeze. And baby rabbits were all over so we chased them into the practicing pen.