By California standards, it wasn't much. But southern Illinois' was strong enough to wake me up 150 miles away. I have two children that live in and around the SF Bay area. Their time will come--and then some!

The weather's been gorgeous this past week, albeit windy. I was able to plant quite a bit of my garden. I've got coffee cans everywhere to cover up plants susceptible to frost over night. One Arctic plunge and it's all over. Last year , my fruit tree blossoms took a hit.

I've been able to play golf every day this week (no weekend golf). Since I'm shooting right around par, it's been fun! After golf yesterday, I walked through my tallgrass prairie (burned down), and lopped off tree saplings for two hours. That wore me out.

Today, I do a two hour shift at selling ice cream for our Lions Club at a nearby Hispanic festival. Wish the weather was warmer and drier. At least I feel better than I did last week at this time (with a bad cold). Smile. It's contagious!