Hobbie was at the front windows last night during the terrific storms. He was looking out so intensely that I asked him what was up? He said that on the TV they kept breaking every channel's broadcast (they do and they did!) with a weather alert.

He said they had a TOMATO WARNING and he was waiting at the window to see the big nasty TOMATO.

..........

There were some tornadoes. One went across the northern part of our area on a line from south of Bowling Green, just south of Fremont, between Clyde and Castalia and south of Sandusky (location of Cedar Point) and eventually out over Lake Erie. It touched down at several places and caused some damage. So far, no word of casualties.

At times here the lightning bolts were seconds apart. I timed eighteen crashes in less than a half minute. The rain was long and heavy. We had spots of hail but no damage from it.

I asked my insurance guy about hail damage. He said I would be covered. Most people here do not have the kind of coverage I do. I think it is because I lived in California where the law says you must have a certain level of liability AND comprehensive. Ohio doesn't even have very good minimum coverage.

I notice that here the cops don't ticket people for loud cars and trucks. I would guess that one out of five pickups that go past my house don't even have mufflers. In CA that is a guaranteed ticket. If you can hear the engine you are in violation.

Also, CA traffic fines are huge. Speeding is $271.00 Rolling stops and light violations are about the same. Plus court costs. The last year I lived on Faust Ave., Long Beach, my neighbor got a ticket for no headlight (one was out.) They don't bother with a warning! It cost him $160.00!

My friend there (a cop) told me that when recessions cut into the city's tax revenues, the cops are told to increase their traffic violation stops to help make up for the lost revenues.

Here, they simply lay off or fire the cops.

.............

I went to Findlay yesterday to see a great artist named Laura. She is a Tiffin Art Guild member and I picked up two pieces to hang in our new gallery. I had never seen her studio at the big Jones Building where so many Findlay Art League people maintain studios. It amazed me! I wish we had something like that here.

Yesterday was their semi-annual "Art Walk." The artists and galleries have open house and the public really shows up. The Jones was crowded! The artists had goodies and wine, etc. in their studios. I reviewed the F.A.L.'s exhibition, too. Good stuff.

Laura does watercolor, gouache and some printmaking. Her work is stunning. So is Laura.

Oh my!

.............

Our new gallery is 99 percent completed. We are waiting for the hall carpet to be installed, then the mop board trim. I am also waiting for about forty more feet of hanging rail channel. Then we are ready. I opened it to the public Tuesday. Still having problems getting volunteers scheduled. I went down at 1 p.m. today and the volunteer skipped on us. So I turned out the lights, locked up and came home.

Our grand opening gala party event still has to be scheduled. I think we will have it in June.

I have really devoted a major portion of my time to this.

.............

I have not painted for nearly two months. Each day I feel more guilt. Lately it is because of the surgery and the recoup time. I will get back on it soon.

.............

Later