Catching Up: Friday, February 29, 2008

Leap day. We won't see another one for four years.

I set out for the Red River Valley, starting not too long after noon. I drove the family van, daughter #2 followed in her car. Actually, it's my wife's car that #2 daughter has been using while she's at college. We had left the car at college, in Moorhead, and the two of us drove up to Hillsboro.

After touching base at the house, the two of us visited my dad. He seemed better than he had sounded a week ago: hardly a surprise.

There were people there, talking with him, when we arrived. I gather that he's been heavily condolenced.

#2 daughter and I fixed supper, and put gas in the van, respectively. Gasoline is pricey up there: more so than in Sauk Centre. We watched "Men in Black:" That was fun. It was about then that I discovered that we didn't have a working Internet connection.

Later, #2 daughter taught me some chords on the piano, and some music theory. She also told me about the 'voice in the piano.' When you press one of the pedals and speak into the piano, you'll hear a voice inside. My father heard his brother, she told me. She heard #3 daughter, or my wife. The ladies in this family sound very much alike.

#2 daughter also sifted through a closet and some boxes, while we talked. Sitting on the floor, she found a bottle of Bay Rum in the closet. Being curious, she sniffed the Bay Rum: it was the first time she'd encountered the substance. Then she rolled back, making teeth-bared face. I've seen cats react a bit like that.

She tells me that Bay Rum has a very strong, very distinct odor. I'll take her word for that. If I saw as well as I smell, I'd be legally blind.

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Now, I've got a bulletin to finish before turning in, so I'd better stop.