Hi! Well, it's been so long since I even thought of this, but I have been reading about people writing journals and sharing them and reading other people's as well, so I thought, I have this website, it can be my ongoing journal. It is June 26th, 2004, the weather is beautiful in Missouri, just like Spring, low 70's. It's unreal! It's Saturday and I just went to the Farmer's Market down on the square of our little town, busiest square in the state. Got the first Missouri tomatoes, quite exciting for this place, and some other just picked produce. Of course I couldn't resist the bake sale at our local hardware store, and a beautiful fresh baked loaf of rye at our new breadstore and tea house. Picked up some black walnut ice creaam too, it's getting hard to find anymore. Of course I've been over to McDonald's several times already, very, very crazy with people pulling boats and all kinds of campers, etc, to take to Truman Lake,a corp lake 5 minutes south of here. Very natural, with bluffs and all kind of wildlife and lots of fish. Crappie being my favorite fish in that lake, great to fry or bake, ambrosia of the Gods! People have to eat fast food before they settle in to boat or camp, I guess, also many boy scouts going to their camp south of here, they look good the first day, but very dirty and tired on the way back home, I do believe they are messier eatting on the way back than they are going also! We have (McDonald's) these great salads now, I love the Cobb and the Fiesta( Mexican) ones, sometimes I get grilled chicken on them, but it is almost too much to eat. Must have our iced tea every day and our coffee, the best in Clinton,(our town). There is a huge golf tournament going on today with starters talking on loadspeakers that woke me up this morning( we live on the course) and a big tent set up for partying afterwards, I think there is a wedding reception in the clubhouse this evening also, should get pretty crazy. I have to travel to Windsor, a little town north of here, for our outdoor band concert in their park this evening. We have a community band and have concerts every other week outside in various locations during June and July. This is the first time we've gone "on the road". We also play in the parade on the 4th of July and play in our old band stand on the courthouse lawn in the afternoon after the parade, and for the county fair and just concerts in our old park. The park is called Artesian Park, and it used to have a huge Artesian well and a hotel where people would stay to "take the waters" in Victorian days. Of course the well dried up and the hotel burned down long ago, but the beautiful old park is still there and has been spruced up and refurbished because of money we got from some hotel chain that was having an advertising gimmik on the Rosie O'Donnell show. She threw a dart at a U.S. map, and it landed on Clinton, so we got all this money to fix up the park and the hotel people even came and did alot of the work of clearing brush away and building an ampitheater. Everyone is now busy raising money to fix up our last old theater and they plan on making it a place to have plays, the high school will us it and our two community theater groups. It was being used as the local movie theater, but now we have a new 6 plex with huge screens and Dolby sound. I can watch new movies the same time they open in New York, but with none of the crowds.Case in point, went to the opening show yesterday of Spiderman two, walked right in, theatre practically empty and watched the show. Everyone is getting ready for the big 4th of July celebration here, I will be in the parade(our band)and a concert in the bandstand by the courthouse and another concert, religious, Sunday morning. I have lots of tickets for drawings for prizes each nite. So will probably try to get to some of the shows, since you have to be present to win. I'm driving to Columbia tomorrow to pick up Jen. She'll come home for a few days and then I'll take her back on Tuesday. She's doing a practicum at Columbia College this summer, recataloging their library, she really likes it. Took a bike ride downtown to watch them set up the carnival, such a strange life those people have, going from town to town.
July, 29th, Well, back once more to write. We had our last concert Tuesday night. Beautiful weather, and a good performance. We had ice cream and a good time, two encores. We will be going to Chicago next week to spend some time with all kids. We will be picking up Jen on the way and staying downtown for about a week. I can't wait to see millineum park, Julie says it's beautiful. Then we'll probably go to the lake for awhile after we get back. In September we will be going to Cinncinnati to pick up our new Cayenne, Porsche SUV. I gues people that have them call them just "Peppers". I have never been there, so I hope we can find a nice place to stay and can do some fun things. In October we will be going down to Sarasota to start planning our house. Either to build or remodel the house that is there. We will probably stay two weeks and talk to builders and get some ideas of plans and prices. We will be staying in a condo on the beach. They are great places, built probably in the 70's, that are right on the gulf on Lido Key. We are renting one from a couple we met while down there before. They live in N. Carolina in the summer, he is a retired doctor. It is a second marriage for both, their spoused died, and they are really great people. They have their condo on the beach and another Patio Home on a golf course south of town, we visited them there and it was lovely, lots of trees and water. Sarasota is such a great place, we can't wait to move there. Dennis is set on building a Mediterranean, but I would kind of like to do a Sarasota School of Design home, really modern, something totally different then the Georgian Colonial we have in Missouri, but I doubt if I'll get my way :>).
t
CaC
.
Email me: pbeckman@iland.net
