Monday morning friends report.

What some of our friends and family are doing, saying, or emailing recently. Several of our gang like JOE, PAT W, SPARTY, DASHMANN and IRISH MIKE are mourning the approaching end of golf season in mid Michigan.

People are really "on the go" these days.

SANDY - and her crew have just returned from Greece and Italy.

OFFICER ED and MARY - have left for Texas for the winter.

The GENDERs - have left for Florida for November and will be coming and going during the winter.

SCOT and TRASE - are planning their next trip to Australia.

MARSHA - Was in Philadelphia and Washington DC this past week.
(And she says this sign is on the Parkway by Washington: GEORGE BUSH CENTER FOR INTELLIGENCE. She found it to be highly improbable, but we decided it must pertain to Bush's daddy who was a spy.)

BILL from WNNCO - was in Chicago for a long weekend.

PAT W - Here is a picture that represents her vacation very well. Shoes kicked off, a rocking chair, a "screwdriver," a su-do-ku book, the latest Harry Potter novel --- but wait! Where is she? Oh yeah, gone to take a nap.

Click on picture to enlarge it.

DASHMANN and JOANNE - are dropping their plans to go to Hawaii and instead plan to visit a sunny beach not quite so far away.
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SPARTY and GIGI - rode out the tornado threats during the recent spell of bad weather in Michigan at their daughter's house. A tornado did strike nearby. Thankfully, they were in the basement and all went well.

STEVE - sent this picture of his successful hunting effort. He got that poor, little defenseless deer with a bow-and-arrow. In the past, we teased him about his hunting luck. Now, we apologize.

Click on picture to enlarge

JIM T from Minneapolis - has a fairly new blog which reflects his interest in pin-hole photography. If you have a similar interest visit him here: CLICK Here is a picture of a pinhole camera. His other great interests include bicycling as a form of transportation.

Jim owns a bicycle shop which you can visit online here: CLICK FOR HIAWATHA CYCLERY And, it has a very cool logo.


ALICE - sends more about the Blackwater group. This is a military-for-rent operation that the Bush government has been using to do some of its dirty work in Iraq (and elsewhere, no doubt) and which is having new troubles: this time tax evasion. CLICK

SPARTY - is also concerned about the Blackwater group and sent this cite to a Frank Rich opinion piece that says this: If we let this group go on doing its nastiness in our name, then we are like the "good Germans" who turned away and pretended not to know what their government was doing before World War II. I think it's an excellent point, and I strongly recommend this article: CLICK FOR RICH

excerpt: "Our humanity has been compromised by those who use Gestapo tactics in our war. The longer we stand idly by while they do so, the more we resemble those “good Germans” who professed ignorance of their own Gestapo. It’s up to us to wake up our somnambulant Congress to challenge administration policy every day. Let the war’s last supporters filibuster all night if they want to. There is nothing left to lose except whatever remains of our country’s good name."

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DASHMANN - sent this slap at Hillary. He does not say if he agrees with it or not.

Click on it to enlarge it.

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BILL from WNNCO - one of the smartest people I know, and with the most varied interests and achievements, sent this picture of his racing team which includes himself and his sons.

Click on picture to enlarge.

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STEVE - sent some pictures from a friend of his of an albino deer struck and killed on M-68 in Michigan. Both Pat and I found the picture to be eerie, but sad. It seems almost irreligious to have this wonderful creature dead-by-accident.


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FELIX and MARSHA - both report a rare phenomenon in their areas, and they're both delighted by it: RAIN!

JERRY - is recovering from an injury. It's one of those nagging things that takes a long time to go away. But, he hasn't lost his sense of humor, and sent a bunch of cartoons about the matter of health. I'm including two:


Click on cartoons to enlarge

MIKE CARROLL almost from Carrollton - sent some funny videos. One of them was another slap at Senator Larry Craig and was called: "Village People and Sen. Craig: A Real Toe-Tapper!" (Some people besides the Senator, might find it offensive.) CLICK

JOE - sent a bunch of golfing jokes. This is one of them that I really liked:
A gushy reporter told Phil Michelson, "You are spectacular, your name is synonymous with the game of golf. You really know your way around the course. What's your secret?"
Michelson replied, "The holes are numbered."